The Significance of Ananda
by silent H
Summary: CCS Spirited Away xover: Sakura's new neighbor is none other than Chihiro. One night, Syaoran, Sakura and Chihiro enter the Spirit World. But what made everyone on Earth disappear? It's up to them to figure it out...HC, SS Update Chapter 18(20)
1. Prologue

lalala-flashbacks  
  
'lalala'-thinking  
  
~~~ with italics- Dreaming  
  
"lalala"-out loud  
  
Prologue  
  
Chihiro and her parents finally got to the house (blue on the left) after the odd incident on the side road. There was a bit of confusion with the movers (they had left off bringing in the boxes and furniture); apparently the Oginos had arrived over a month late. After a heated argument her parents got the movers to bring in the furniture.  
  
While her parents were completely fine, Chihiro seemed reformed. However this only bothered Mr. Ogino slightly. He never worried long (she was a strong girl--his daughter, after all) and went on with his thoughts. Mrs. Ogino wasn't concerned either. If her husband had no need for anxiety, neither did she. Anyway, Chihiro wasn't complaining like she had on the way to the house earlier, which was a relief. And she wouldn't have to waste money on another bouquet.  
  
When they got inside the big, airy house on top of the hill, Chihiro immediately ran around, exploring. She finally decided on her room; it faced the forest where the side road had been. It had been the family's deal that Chihiro could choose her room first, to try and make up for the unfortunate move she had to now go through.  
  
- - -  
  
Chihiro sighed. She sat on the seat by the big bay window facing the forest. 'When will Haku get here? I sure hope he can make it to the human world okay.' She knew Haku would keep his promise at all costs--River Gods wouldn't break a promise. Still, Chihiro worried. 'What if Yubaba doesn't let him go? What if she keeps him at Aburaya forever?'  
  
"CHIHIRO! Come down here! We want you to meet our new neighbors!" Chihiro heard her mom screaming out from the bottom of the grand staircase.  
  
"COMING!" Chihiro ran down the staircase, slightly eager to meet new people and slightly shy at the same time. But that was silly! Why should she be nervous to meet new people with all that she had been through in the Spirit World? After catering to a stink spirit? Getting a job from Yubaba? Dealing with No-Face all of those times? It was ridiculous.  
  
She dodged moving men carrying in big cardboard boxes and burst out the front door.  
  
- - -  
  
Sakura hid behind the blinds in her room. "Looks like we've got new neighbors, Kero!" She turned towards a yellow stuffed animal playing video games in front of her TV. "Aaaarg! Kero? Stop playing games for a minute!" Her emerald green eyes had a furious glint in them.  
  
"Aww, Sakura! I heard you." Kero put down the controller and flew up in front of her face. He peered down through the blinds at the blue house next door. "Yup! Looks like we got new neighbors, all right. I wonder if they have any kids? Or maybe a son?" He joked to Sakura. "I hope he isn't like that Syaoran kid."  
  
Sakura blushed slightly. Syaoran had decided to stay instead of going off to China. Secretly, she was glad he had decided to stay with her and the gang. She peered down at the couple (middle aged, she supposed) below. They were talking to her father and Touya. Suddenly the door to the house burst open, and a young girl, perhaps a year or two younger than her, came running out onto the green grassy lawn. She was skinny and gangly and wore shorts and a t-shirt. Sakura blinked as a something in the girl's brown hair sparkled brightly. She frowned. As Sakura looked at Kero, she saw that he sensed the same thing.  
  
"That kid." Kero mused, "I don't know. Something about her. I feel a little bit of magic in her, or maybe on her. I'm not sure."  
  
Sakura looked worried. She tucked a stray strand of cocoa brown hair behind her ears. "It's pretty strong, but it's not like Clow's magic. Or mine."  
  
Kero looked down again. "Maybe you should take me down there when you go to greet her. I can do that stuffed animal thing again so I can really feel around for the source of magic. But I know that SHE doesn't have any powers."  
  
Sakura glanced at the Sakura Cards on her desk. For a long time now there had been little disturbances in her hometown. Nothing had happened since Eriol's arrival about a year or so ago. Yukito was off traveling with his grandparents, so Yue wouldn't be there to help her. Tomoyo was off with her mother on some free trip to London. In the case of any magical threats, Sakura would only have Syaoran and Kero to help her. Yet this girl (a child!) couldn't possibly possess a threat. She had seen way more powerful sorcerers and beings in her day. "All right. Let's go." Sakura made a mental note to tell Syaoran about it later.  
  
- - -  
  
Chihiro knew she was surprising her parents again. She had always been shy around strangers and new people. Now, all of a sudden, she seemed to have no fear at all of the new next-door neighbors! Chihiro smiled inwardly. It was nice for her parents to notice something about her.  
  
Chihiro smiled as she held out her hand. "Hello. I'm Chihiro Ogino." She glanced at the two grown men in front of her. So much for playmates.  
  
One of the men, the older one, stepped forward and shook her outstretched hand. He wore glasses and his hair was slightly gray. "I'm pleased to meet you. I'm Fujitaka Kinomoto. This is Touya, my son." He referred to the younger man next to him. There was a shadow of a frown etched on Touya's brow, but he smiled truly, nonetheless.  
  
She stood behind as her parents stepped forward. She let them talk about the move and business as she wandered off towards the side of the house. Chihiro gazed up at the sky. 'Haku.I hope you make it here soon.'  
  
Crash!  
  
Her head whipped around to see a girl, who looked a year older than her, break out of the Kinomoto's door. She had short, light brown hair and hazel- green eyes. The girl had a yellow winged stuffed animal in the hood of her sweatshirt. Chihiro thought it was a little babyish for a girl that was her age. The girl looked friendly enough, though. Chihiro ran eagerly towards the little clump of people gathering on the front yard.  
  
The girl turned and looked at Chihiro, cheerily. "Hello, my name is Sakura Kinomoto. I hope we can be good neighbors!"  
  
Chihiro smiled. Sakura was friendly! "Sure, me too! I'm Chihiro Ogino. Are you two brother and sister?" She referred towards the younger man.  
  
This time, he actually spoke. "Unfortunately, yes." He grinned at Chihiro and rested his hand on Sakura's head. She glared at him and kicked his shin. Chihiro laughed. She was an only child, and had no brothers and sisters to play around with. 'But Haku and me were like brother and sister, or best friends maybe. When he comes back he can---' she stopped abruptly. Her eye had caught a movement in Sakura's hood. But there was only a stuffed animal there. Wasn't there? Chihiro shook off the thought and continued talking to the Kinomotos. Things were looking good. She had nice neighbors, her parents were noticing her (sort of), and Haku was bound to come back soon. She smiled hugely, her ponytail holder sparkling brightly in the sun. 


	2. Voices

lalala-flashbacks  
  
'lalala'-thinking  
  
~~~ - Dreaming  
  
"lalala"-out loud  
  
Chapter 1: Voices  
  
As it turned out, Sakura was a year older than Chihiro, making her eleven (or almost twelve, since Chihiro was practically eleven herself). However, the difference in age didn't stop the two from becoming fast friends. Kero was always wary of Chihiro, but he had declared that the 'magic' in her hair was either dormant or not planning to do any harm.  
  
Chihiro herself found that any enchantments, or things to do with spirits, had kept away from her as time went on. In fact, she found her life to be, simply put, boring. Nothing spectacular or out of the ordinary happened in her life. None of the things she had read about in fantasy books, or experienced herself, came into being. Chihiro even took out the little pink shoes she had almost lost so many years ago, and tried all sorts of odd little chants and intonations to open a door into the Spirit World. She spent hours on the weekends searching for the funny little statue on the path, and the old abandoned amusement park. At night she looked out her window for dragons in the sky. But nothing. She found absolutely nothing. Chihiro couldn't find the way back.  
  
Still, that doesn't mean to say she hated her life. After Tomoyo got back from London, and Yukito from his travels, Sakura instantly invited them over to meet Chihiro. The whole group hit it off, except for Syaoran. He was wary of Chihiro and kept to himself anytime they were all together.  
  
In her own grade, Chihiro made a few friends, and even racked herself up a few admirers. Unfortunately, she had no interests in boyfriends, only in boy friends. Her grades were good, and she got allowance for all of the chores she did at home. In fact, her parents relied on Chihiro to do the chores-it was hard enough for them to do such difficult work when they were so busy and out all of the time. To Chihiro, these tasks were menial. After scrubbing the slime off of a giant tub, helping the Susuwatari carry heavy coal to a giant boiler, and scaling the side of Aburaya to get to Haku, washing the dishes and making the bed seemed pointless to ignore.  
  
And then, doubt struck. What if the whole escapade in the Spirit World was the affect of too much boredom? What if she dreamed Aburaya? And worst of all: what if she had dreamed up Haku? The thought was too much to bear.  
  
But Chihiro had one comfort and piece of proof to show for.  
  
- - -  
  
"I still think that hair band is a threat! No matter how stupid it seems, Kero could be right! Remember what you thought about Ms. Mitsuki? You thought she was nice and had nothing to do with the Clow Cards, but as it turned out, she had a part to play."  
  
"But she's only a kid Syaoran."  
  
"I see nothing wrong with a hair tie either. Sakura's right, she's just a kid. We'll just keep an eye out for any odd happenings."  
  
Sakura leaned against the window on the bus. She often thought of the conversation from long ago, a few days after the big party to introduce Chihiro to all of her friends. Syaoran had been suspicious, but Tomoyo had taken to Chihiro right away.  
  
An unexpected bump jerked Sakura out of her thoughts and mashed her head against the seat in front of her.  
  
"Unfff!" she grunted, rubbing her hands over her forehead.  
  
A pair of violet eyes peered at her in concern over the top of the seat. "Sakura, are you okay? You've been spacing again." Tomoyo chuckled. "Even after all of these years, you're still a klutz!"  
  
Sakura feigned offense. "Well it doesn't take four years to rid a person of their klutziness!" She paused, suddenly feeling nostalgic. Had it only been four years? More, actually. She had been a friend with Tomoyo since forever, in her mind. She had known Chihiro for only four years. In all of that time the young gangly 'kid' had turned into a worthy young woman of fourteen. Chihiro's style, however, had remained basically the same. Jeans, t-shirt, ponytail (and much to Kero's dislike, she still wore the 'dangerous hair tie'), although a disgruntled Tomoyo had tried to talk her into new hip fashions-and costumes.  
  
Sakura, on the other hand, had grown her hair to shoulder length but kept bangs. Other than that, she had changed little. Tomoyo hardly wore her long, gray-black hair down anymore; it was usually up in a bun or in braids. And Syaoran, well.he was still as cute as ever!  
  
Tomoyo recognized Sakura's look. "I can tell you're thinking of him, Sakura. How are things with Syaoran, anyway?"  
  
"The same as ever, I guess." Sakura sighed, "But he's still wary of Chihiro. Said he wanted to do another scouting around her house tonight."  
  
Tomoyo grinned. "His one fault."  
  
- - -  
  
Chihiro sat in bed, looking out the window at the night sky.  
  
"Will we meet again sometime?"  
  
"I'm sure we will."  
  
"Promise?"  
  
"Promise. Now go, and don't look back."  
  
She sighed. After four years, Haku still hadn't come back. She often dreamt of him, and Rin, Kamajii, No-Face, Granny and everyone else. But most of all Haku. Chihiro looked at the stars in the sky, hoping to see a silver- white dragon with a green mane. Of course, she didn't. That was the story of her life.  
  
As she turned over to switch off the lamp, Chihiro felt a weird sense of déjà vu. A shiver ran up her spine. 'Something's going to happen, isn't it?' Chihiro lay down and took the purple hair tie out of her hair. 'I sure hope it does.' She closed her eyes and fell asleep, with the hair band clutched fast in her fingers.  
  
~~~  
  
"Where am I? Hello? Anyone here?" Chihiro looked around her. She was standing on. nothing! She couldn't see where she was. Everything was pitch black. A warm breeze blew on her chilled arms and legs. Chihiro noticed she was still wearing her pajama pants and her 'I love Chocolate' t-shirt.  
  
"I'm not supposed to be wearing pajamas! It's a dream." She thought out loud.  
  
"Are you so sure?"  
  
"AH! Who was that?" Chihiro looked around wildly for the source of the voice. It seemed to echo around her.  
  
"Everyone and no-one. Who are YOU?" The voice was soothing yet rough, old but young, sweet and at the same time, bitter.  
  
Chihiro shivered. The breeze was cooler, and suddenly smelled like some kind of flower. Maybe Irises or Daisies. "M-my name i-is--" She was cut off suddenly by the voice.  
  
"I already know who you are. And I know where you have been. And you will go there again, my child." She (Chihiro could tell it was a girl, in fact, maybe even a young girl) smiled, although how Chihiro knew that the person or thing was smiling was a mystery. She had, in a way, sensed it.  
  
"Where?"  
  
"You know where!"  
  
Suddenly images flashed by. Images of her beloved Spirit World. "Am I really going back? Oh, please, please be right!" Chihiro pleaded to herself. How much she wanted to return!  
  
The voice ignored her. "They will all disappear. All of them. The two, they will accompany you. You have been forewarned. I will see you again, Chihiro."  
  
"Wait! Wait! What are you talking about? And how-"  
  
~~~  
  
"--how do you know my name?" Chihiro found herself standing in front of her window, the window that faced where the old path had been. The path to the Spirit World.  
  
She shook herself to rid her body of the weird feeling, that feeling of déjà vu. All of a sudden she remembered the dream. The dream! She was going back! Or was she? Maybe it was just a silly dream. But it had been so real! 'I can't have imagined it! It has to be true, it has to!' Chihiro stared at the trees rustling in the wind. 'No, it wasn't a dream. It wasn't! I WILL go back, I WILL!'  
  
- - -  
  
"Sakura! Wake up Sakura! You have to get up!"  
  
"Uhhhnmmmawwwwhhhhhnnnnn." Sakura rolled over in her sleep, yawning. She had a reputation for sleeping through anything. Then again, not everything.  
  
"Sakura, just get up!" Syaoran pulled out his sword. "Thunder!"  
  
CRASH! BANG!  
  
"AHHH!" That did the trick. Sakura jumped around five feet off of her bed. "Syaoran! What are you doing here? I thought you were out 'patrolling' Chihiro's house!" Suddenly she blushed. Syaoran was here! In her room! And she was only sporting shorts and a tank top. Obviously, he noticed too (and reddened considerably).  
  
"Well, I was. But then I caught a really weird sense. Not magic," he said, seeing Sakura's look, "something else. I came here to get you, and you're not going to believe this, but you brother and father are gone!"  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"Gone. Straight out of their beds, without a mark." Syaoran's eyes were grave.  
  
Sakura impulsively grabbed the remote and flicked on her TV. What she saw was the strangest thing ever. On the news channel the desks were set up, the coffee, everything. But the people were gone. She flipped through the channels. Every one was the same; regular shows going on, just without people in them. Sakura repressed a violent shudder. What was going on?  
  
She ran downstairs to her brother's room, hardly noticing the time-12:06 AM. "Touya! TOUYA! Where are you?" Sakura began sobbing as she ran. She turned around to see Syaoran. "Syaoran, what's happening?" She buried her head in his chest, crying.  
  
"Sakura, calm down. We can probably fix this. You just have to calm yourself, like when we were in the cave with the Erase Card." Syaoran comforted her. Many times he'd had to get her going again, to get her to capture a card before it wreaked more havoc. This was just another one of those times, although Syaoran's senses told him it wasn't a Clow card, or anything remotely like it.  
  
Sakura sighed, and leaned against the wall. 'Calm down girl.' She told herself. 'Think, think.' Sakura shouted out loud, "I've got it! Kero should know!" She bolted upstairs thinking of how Kero would know what to do; he could fix it!  
  
When she got to her room (Syaoran close behind), she opened the drawer where Kero slept. It was empty. "Kero!! Kero come out! This isn't funny!" she cried out despairingly. Sakura whirled around. "Where is he?" she looked at Syaoran. She could tell they were thinking the same thing. What could be strong enough to make the Guardian Beast disappear? It was all too much.  
  
Out of the deep silence a crash resounded around the still houses, startling the two. Syaoran looked up, alarmed. "But everyone disappeared.?" He stopped as he saw who was running out of the house next door. Sakura and Syaoran gasped simultaneously. "CHIHIRO!"  
  
They took no time in following her, with the exception of Sakura, who had to put on a sweatshirt, sneakers, and bring her cards, just in case.  
  
- - -  
  
The moonlight glinted off of the pearly white scales on the dragon. The dragon flew high over the Spirit World, half asleep. He had been flying in calm peace for a few hours, as he had often done.after.after she left.  
  
Suddenly he felt a presence. His eyes snapped open; almond shaped eyes the color of the green ocean. "Who's there?" He stopped his flight and hovered in his spot. Whoever it was, they couldn't hide because the night sky was cloudless.  
  
"That is of no matter." A voice snapped out at him, coming from nowhere, and at the same time, everywhere.  
  
His eyes narrowed. "Answer my question!"  
  
The voice chuckled. "Temper, temper, my young spirit. You must control it. I am no enemy. Merely.a messenger, of sorts." The voice sounded pleased with itself, and he suddenly felt that whomever he was talking with was a being greater than him.  
  
"And why should I trust you? For all I know, you could be an enemy." He laid his challenge down.  
  
"Hm. Because I am here to give you a warning, one that you may find of good bearing, but a warning nonetheless. Three humans are approaching the Spirit World. She is among them. Two of them have power. They will need food. You must go to the River. You will find them there." The voice seemed devoid of emotion, like it was just doing this because it knew it was supposed to happen.  
  
"Her.? Surely you don't me--" he was cut off suddenly.  
  
"You have been forewarned. Go now... Kohaku." 


	3. Spirited Back

Hey everyone! Wow I'm so surprised, I got reviews! And I was all hyped up when I saw them. So thanks to shazaoblossom (yea I'm glad I thought of a crossover! ^.^) and meta lise and Jen Tai Yaung (I even appreciate constructive criticism) for the reviews!!!!  
  
Yes, I will keep updating, since u all really liked it (yay!) and to tell the truth I actually have 4 chappies written, but I didn't load all of them since I had a problem with the formatting and it took too long. hehe  
  
Oh yea SPIRITED AWAY WON THE ACADAMY AWARD 4 BEST ANIMATED FILM!!!!! WOOO HOOO YEA PARTY!  
  
Disclaimer: whoops I fergot 2 put one in last time (**gets clubbed by agent**) so yea I don't own Spirited Away.  
  
And happy reading!!!!  
  
lalala-flashbacks  
  
'lalala'-thinking  
  
~~~ - Dreaming  
  
"lalala"-out loud  
Chapter 2: Spirited Back  
Chihiro's sneakers pounded along the ground. Soon after getting into the forest she had tied her hair back up; it was swishing in front of her face with every step she took. She paid no attention to direction; she trusted that she would find the path. Her dream had said that she was going back. As Chihiro ran, her mind wandered off of finding the way to the Spirit World and began to think of all the friends she would meet when she got there.  
  
No-Face. "Thank you for helping me earlier."  
  
Granny. "I want you to know my real name. It's Chihiro."  
  
"Chihiro.what a pretty name. You take good care of it."   
  
Rin. "I can't believe you pulled it off! You're such a dope, you had me really worried."  
  
Kamajii. "Thank you Mr. Boilerman!"  
  
"Good luck."  
  
And Haku.  
  
Caught up in her thoughts, Chihiro didn't notice two people following her, like silent shadows slipping through the leaves.  
  
- - -  
  
Sakura and Syaoran kept Chihiro in their sight, never losing sight of her. Sakura panted as she ran, "She doesn't seem to know where she's going. It's all very random. We could be chasing her for nothing."  
  
Syaoran brushed some leaves out of his hair. "Everyone in the world disappears and we're left. It stands to reason since we've got magical powers. But she's here too, so she must have some kind of magic! And I want to find out what it is." Sakura couldn't refute his strong logic, so she kept silent.  
  
Chihiro led them on a chase through the woods for twenty minutes. The girl seemed to be fueled by some extra tank of energy, while Sakura began to feel tired.  
  
"Storm's brewing." Syaoran called suddenly. He pointed upwards and Sakura looked. Dark clouds were gathering like an ominous warning. Suddenly he held out his hand and stopped her. They had stumbled onto an actual path, and Chihiro was standing still.  
  
- - -  
The breeze ruffled the trees and blew a leaf across the path. Ahead of her, a stone statue of a funny creature (a cross between a frog and a dwarf) stood covered with moss. Behind it was a dusty red building with peeling paint, and a single tunnel in the middle of the wall. The end of the tunnel was too far away to see.  
  
Chihiro could hardly contain her excitement. Here it was, the exact same path, just like it was four years ago. 'And there's nothing here to stop me!' Chihiro thought gleefully. She ran towards the tunnel. She could finally come back to the Spirit World! Everything was going to be great, she could see Haku again, go and visit Granny, maybe even-  
  
"Stop Chihiro!" She recognized that voice.  
  
"Syaoran?!?! What are you doing here?" He jumped in front of her, between her and the tunnel. She could see Sakura standing off to the side, staring at the old, decrepit building.  
  
Syaoran glared at her. "Ever since I've met you, I've had a bad feeling about you. You're not what you appear to be." His tone was accusing. He took a step forward.  
  
Chihiro was bewildered. What was he talking about? "What do you mean? I'm exactly who I am."  
  
"NO! You're different. We know your secret." Syaoran took another step forward. He could sense something strong, but his anger blinded his senses and he stubbornly believed it was coming from Chihiro.  
  
She couldn't believe what was going on. Sakura? And Syaoran? Knew what? That she'd been to the Spirit World? 'They couldn't. No one knows. I haven't told anyone.' She turned towards him, angry now. "You don't know anything!"  
  
Meanwhile, Sakura was looking at the tunnel. She could feel something there, hovering in the air like sweet perfume. She could see the end of the tunnel faintly; it was far away. As she looked at it, a memory came back to her, of a conversation she'd had with Chihiro once, on a hike in these woods. As she remembered, the memory mixed with the shouts of Syaoran and Chihiro arguing.  
  
"You know Chihiro.maybe we should take a different path." Sakura bit her lip worriedly.  
  
Chihiro frowned, confused. "How come? It's all the same woods."  
  
"Yea well..." (Sakura sweat-dropped) "Well people say there are ghosts in the woods. Like, spirits. And they say there's a   
  
Syaoran and Chihiro were still arguing. "Oh yea? Well how come you never talked to me at Sakura's parties?" Chihiro yelled loudly.  
  
"That's irrelevant! Now what do you have to do with everyone disappearing?" "Everyone dis--" Chihiro paused, suddenly feeling a cold chill. 'Didn't that voice in my dream say that.that they would all disappear?' She shivered. "I have no idea what you're  
  
"building that the spirits go to. And they take a train where they disappear. The legend says that when you die, your person-spirit goes there, or here, to these woods. Hey! Chihiro, are you okay?" Sakura stopped and turned around. Chihiro had halted when Sakura had mentioned spirits.  
  
"Spirits?" She said, her face as white as a sheet.  
  
Sakura grinned good-naturedly. "You must be afraid of them too! Haha, I'm scared to death   
  
All three of them didn't notice the light rain that had begun to fall, or the lightning booming closely overhead.  
  
"talking about!" Chihiro finished.  
  
"of them!"  
  
Chihiro said softly (soft enough that she thought that Sakura wouldn't hear, but that it turned out that Sakura had heard anyway), "Well, you must have never been on the train before."  
  
The lightning bolt that struck startled all of them out of their wits.  
  
CRASH! "AHHHH!"  
  
Syaoran was the first to recover. "It hit the tree!" he cried, pointing at a tree a few feet away. His instincts told him to grab Chihiro (no matter how much he was angry at her) and Sakura and to get them out of there. Sakura was by the building.  
  
Chihiro was still dumbfounded as she saw the tree begin to fall. She vaguely felt Syaoran tugging her towards Sakura. 'Wait a minute,' she thought as she tried to register the fact that the tree was falling behind her, 'that's the way to the Spirit World!' Ignoring Syaoran, she ran ahead and brushed past Sakura to get into the building.  
  
Syaoran saw her run ahead, and turned back. The tree was falling. There was no way he could get Sakura and make it under the tree to the other side. He had to follow Chihiro into the building. He shouted over the now pouring rain at Sakura, "C'mon! Into the building, we've got no other choice!"  
  
Sakura and Syaoran made it into the tunnel just as the tree crashed onto the ground. Onto the ground right in front of the passageway. They were trapped inside.  
  
- - -  
  
They had caught up to Chihiro after getting through the long, dark and musty tunnel. Sakura and Syaoran stood, staring around them at the dusty and empty room around them. Chihiro stood a little ways ahead. Sakura noticed an expression of utmost happiness on her face. There were small stained glass windows in the wall, and the sunlight that came through them cast cheery colors onto the drab floor.  
  
"Wait a minute," Chihiro said suddenly (just as Sakura was thinking), "sunlight? But it was just dark and stormy outside!"  
  
Sakura approached the younger girl. "Maybe we should get out of here, Chihiro. This place feels.weird." And it did. Sakura could sense something strong, stronger than she had felt from outside the tunnel. Syaoran simply stood, looking around wordlessly.  
  
Chihiro sighed, and slowly shook her head. "I'm not going back. You can, if you want to." She looked at the arched doorway in front of her.  
  
Syaoran shook his head. "We can't. The tree that fell is blocking the way through. There's no way back, unless we can move it." Sakura gazed behind her at the tunnel. It was pitch black.  
  
"We've got to go forward then. Maybe we can just walk around the building to get back to the other side." Sakura moved forward to join Chihiro. It was the only thing she could think of.  
  
Chihiro found herself wondering if she should tell them. But she couldn't! 'They wouldn't believe me. If I tell them that we're in the Spirit World, then Syaoran might start up on that argument again. And Sakura's afraid of ghosts. I guess I can let them come with me, although I'll just have to make sure that they don't eat any of the spirits' food or get in trouble.' She started, realizing that Sakura and Syaoran were staring at her. "Hehe.okay, let's go."  
  
- - -  
  
They walked forward into the warm sunlight, and into a strange place. Sakura gasped. They had just been in a building that was in the middle of the forest. But this.this was far from it. She looked at Syaoran and saw the same wonder on his face. All of his anger dissipated.  
  
As far as they could see to the sides, a great, grassy plain stretched out. It was dotted with stone statues ('like that one outside the building', Sakura thought) that were either sunken into the ground or standing crookedly. Chihiro started to run up a hill. Sakura and Syaoran had no choice but to follow.  
  
They came to what seemed to be the remains of a river. A stream trickled through the giant boulders in the bed, making a soft gurgling sound. Syaoran felt that wherever they were, there was more to it than the calm appearance they saw.  
  
"Look!" Sakura cried suddenly. "There are buildings over there!" maybe they could find someone and locate where they were. The trio silently walked over the rocks and went up a short flight of cracked stone stairs. Sakura noted a frog statue facing the riverbed, with its mouth open. It looked like a fountain.  
  
To Chihiro, the whole walk was like heaven. She was here! Here, in her beloved Spirit World! What did it matter that Sakura and Syaoran were here? They could learn to like it, or maybe she could just find a way to get them back home again. Who cared? She was probably going to see Haku again.Haku.she suddenly found herself blushing. Syaoran woke her out of her reverie.  
  
He looked around, puzzled. "They're all restaurants! Why would they only have restaurants?" Suddenly he smelled something. Something delicious! "Do you smell that?" he said to Chihiro and Sakura eagerly. Sakura nodded. She was hungry after chasing Chihiro at midnight in a dark forest. But Chihiro gasped. They couldn't eat the food! They'd turn into pigs! She couldn't let that happen.  
  
"Wait! Wait! Don't go!" But they were already running towards the smell of the food. Chihiro sprinted after them.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran ran through the streets of the eccentric little town full of restaurants, following the mouth-watering smell. When they got to the restaurant, they saw heaps of food, but no waiters or waitresses. They looked at each other. Both of them knew it was wrong to eat the food, but they were so hungry!  
  
Just in time, Chihiro caught up. "Don't.eat.the food!" she panted, putting her hands on Sakura's shoulders.  
  
Sakura was startled. "Why ever not? It looks edible." Chihiro still shook her head incessantly.  
  
"Look, I can't tell you why, but you can't eat the food. Just trust me here." She pleaded with them. 'I can't possibly tell them that they'll turn into pigs! They would think I'm crazy.'  
  
Syaoran got suspicious, remembering the argument on the path. "How would you know?"  
  
But Sakura interrupted him. "Maybe Chihiro's right.this food looks so different than regular food. I don't recognize anything." She was worried. What was this place that they had stumbled into? And why wasn't Chihiro alarmed at all?  
  
Chihiro sighed wearily and walked off. She turned. "Are you coming or not?" she kept walking through the village. She heard Sakura and Syaoran following her, and imagined the looks they'd be giving each other. She couldn't blame them. They had no idea where they were, and she wasn't telling them the truth. Or at least, not telling them. Was there such a thing as a lie of omission?  
  
Chihiro looked up and found that her feet had led her back to the edge of the steps. It was darkening. She looked down and saw the frog statue begin to spout water. Soon the whole place would be a giant waterway. She didn't hear Sakura and Syaoran behind her. Sakura was concerned.  
  
"Chihiro, are you okay?" she put a hand on Chihiro's shoulder. She screamed. Her hand had gone right through Chihiro's body! She turned around to look at Syaoran. He was going blurry around the edges. He gasped. Sakura ran to him, and he tried to hold her and comfort her, but his arms went right through her. He looked up at Chihiro. She wasn't disappearing. She was as solid as a rock.  
  
Chihiro turned around. "OH NO! I forgot about that! How could I forget!" she wailed and ran up the steps to the disappearing pair. She knew she needed to get them back across the plain, but as she turned back towards the river she knew she'd see it full of water. Just like when she'd come here first.  
  
"WATER? . It's just a bad dream . I'm see through!"  
  
She shook her head, clearing away the cobwebs. She needed to do something, quick. Sakura and Syaoran were sitting on the steps. Sakura was sobbing quietly, and Syaoran was doing his best to try and comfort her and not touch her at the same time.  
  
'This can't be happening,' Sakura was thinking, 'I'm too young, this isn't real, how can someone disappear?' Syaoran was torn between yelling at Chihiro and comforting Sakura. Comforting won, although he still wondered about what Chihiro had meant when she'd said, "how could I forget?"  
  
Chihiro tried to remember what Haku had done for her when she was disappearing. Food! He'd given her a pill thing. But where would you get food that wouldn't turn you into pigs? "You need to eat food from this world." She mused, thinking aloud.  
  
Sakura jumped up. "What? This world? How could you know what to do? How do you know all of this? And how come you're not disappearing?" She was upset now, not to mention scared to death.  
  
Syaoran stood up too. "First you tell us not to eat the food and now you say we need to eat something? What are you talking about?"  
  
Chihiro had gotten so stressed out that she blurted without thinking: "Because if you eat the food at the restaurants it'll turn you into PIGS!" The quiet after was oppressing. Sakura and Syaoran were stunned into silence. She threw her hands up and walked as far as she could go towards the river. This was too much for her. She rubbed her hands over her eyes and stared up at the sky. Behind her the slowly disappearing Sakura and Syaoran speechlessly stared at her back.  
  
"Oh Haku," she whispered, "I need someone here, to calm me like you always did. Where are you?" A lone tear ran down her cheek. She stared at the sky.  
  
Syaoran shouted abruptly, breaking the silence, "Hey! There's something coming towards us." He stood up and pointed at something in the sky. It was long and silvery, and moved about in the air like a fish in water. If Sakura hadn't been disappearing at the time, she wouldn't have found it as easy to believe that it was a dragon. Chihiro gasped and ran up the steps. Sakura was startled by the outburst.  
  
Chihiro cried with delight. It was Haku! Haku, always coming when things were bad! "Haku! Haku! Over here! Oh Haku!" she shouted at the dragon, ignoring Sakura and Syaoran who were greatly perplexed.  
  
- - -  
  
Haku had been flying for hours straight after he had gotten the message from that.voice, or whatever it was. He couldn't believe he was really going to see Chihiro again. It had been so long. But he hadn't kept his promise. That was Haku's biggest regret. Every time he thought of his broken promise, his heart broke a little bit more. By now it must have been in pieces. But it wasn't his fault. His contract was still on; getting his name back hadn't really done much, except letting him gain a little more control on his body and mind.  
  
Then he sighted them. Three figures, two disappearing, were standing on the steps by the river. And there was Chihiro! He sped up to greet her, anticipating her cool touch, the smell of her hair, her innocent smile. He could hear her calling to him.  
  
- - -  
  
Syaoran took out his sword and stood in front of Chihiro and Sakura. Even if he was disappearing, he had to protect them from this.dragon.thing. "Get back!" he ordered Chihiro, who stubbornly tried to run to the dragon, but Syaoran held her back. (His hands weren't completely gone yet). Sakura didn't need to be told twice.  
  
The dragon landed in front of them. Syaoran and Sakura gazed in wonderment at the dragon; even if it intended harm, it still had a quality of elegance in it. Chihiro struggled to get free of Syaoran's grip, but he was too strong. She had to help Haku! She couldn't let him get hurt.  
  
"Wow." Sakura whispered. The dragon was amazing. His scales were pearly silvery white, and his mane was the color of the ocean. He stood on four legs with small claws on the end of them and had two curved horns. But most amazing of all were his eyes; they looked as if there was a real person behind them, and they were an intensely bright green.  
  
Chihiro felt Syaoran's hand start to disappear, and pulled even harder. She broke away and rushed toward Haku. Until then the dragon had stayed still, but now it moved forward towards Chihiro. Fearing that it was going to attack, Sakura and Syaoran shouted at her, but she didn't hear. As Syaoran was going to raise his sword, they both fell back in amazement as Chihiro embraced it.  
  
She smiled, tears of joy in her eyes. "Haku! I've missed you so much! I can't believe you're here, and I'm here!" As she held onto the scales of Haku's dragon form, he slowly melted away and Chihiro found herself embracing a young man. (Sakura and Syaoran were completely stupefied, and could only watch in absolute shock).  
  
"Chihiro." he whispered, and took a step back to look at her. She gazed back, at his silky black hair, green eyes like the ocean, his amazingly pale but perfect face, and the same clothes he had been wearing that day they met. He hugged her again.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran were baffled. Apparently the dragon, Haku, as Chihiro was calling him, was a good guy. But still, he had changed from a DRAGON into a BOY. There was a little confusion on that. "Just what is going on here?" Syaoran demanded.  
  
Chihiro gasped, remembering that they needed food. She ignored Syaoran and told Haku that they needed food. "I've already taken care of it." He said, holding in his hand two small red pills. "Here, eat this. It won't turn you into a pig. You need to eat some food from here or you'll disappear completely." Haku held out the pills towards Sakura and Syaoran. Sakura hesitated, but decided she had nothing to lose and swallowed it. She took a deep breath and looked at her hands. Her outline was becoming clearer, and as she kept looking, she became solid again.  
  
She ran to Chihiro and hugged her. "Oh, thank you!" Sakura remembered the boy. She turned towards him. He was staring silently at her, and she couldn't find any emotion on his face. "Uh, thank you." She felt slightly uncomfortable around the dragon-boy-thing, whatever he was.  
  
Syaoran wavered. Chihiro held out the other pill. "It's okay, Syaoran. You can trust us." He sighed, (what the hell?) and grabbed it. Haku stepped forward, holding his hand out.  
  
"See? You're fine now." Syaoran reached for Haku's hand and grasped it. His hand didn't go through this time.  
  
"What are you? Where are we? I know this isn't earth."  
  
Haku gave him a level stare. He looked at Chihiro. She sighed, and nodded her head. "I guess you can tell them." Chihiro thought that at least she wouldn't have to be the one to tell them. It may be easier to take coming from Haku. Besides, nothing could ruin her happiness now; Haku was here!  
  
Sakura gave Syaoran a baffled look. Whatever was going on here, Chihiro seemed to be in on it. She had a sinking sensation that wherever they were, it was far from home.  
  
Haku said plainly, "You're in the Spirit World."  
  
"WHAT???????" 


	4. Getting Inside Aburaya

Hey all! Thanx for all of the reviews!! I kno Syaoran is kinda annoying rite now, but he gets better, don't worry!  
  
Disclaimer: I.i. (cant say it!) d-d-don't own Spirited Away! (phew!) ^.^  
  
lalala- flashbacks  
  
'lalala'-thinking  
  
~~~ - Dreaming  
  
"lalala"-out loud  
Chapter 3: Getting inside Aburaya  
"WHAT?" If the boy turning into a dragon was incredible, what he had just told them was beyond words. At least, it was beyond words for Sakura anyway. Especially since she was deathly afraid of ghosts and spirits.  
  
Syaoran returned Haku's level stare. "It doesn't surprise me. This world seemed different from the start. The food, the forest gone, and I could sense something different. Oh yea.and you." Still, he was surprised inside, although he wouldn't let this.Haku know that. Syaoran didn't trust him.  
  
A new thought had come to Sakura. She approached Haku, trembling slightly. "A-are you a g-g-ghost?"  
  
Haku smiled slightly. "My real name is Kohaku, but I'm sorta used to being called Haku." He looked at Sakura, and then to Chihiro when he said this. Sakura noticed Chihiro smile when he said his name, and a look passed between the two.  
  
'He still didn't answer my question.wait a minute! Kohaku!' Sakura said suddenly, "Wasn't that the name of a river somewhere? You're named after a river."  
  
After hesitating, Kohaku answered, "I was that river. I am a river spirit, or a river god. I didn't know until--" he stopped. Syaoran saw Chihiro give a slight shake of her head.  
  
Sakura was still curious, but then she had another scary idea. She turned to Chihiro. "Are you some kind of spirit too?" Sakura dreadfully hoped not. After all of the years with her, to find out that one of her best friends was a ghost would be tragic. Maybe even life scarring. To her surprise, Chihiro laughed.  
  
"I'm just like you are, I'm human. Nothing like Kohaku here, with his magic." She grinned. Now it was Sakura and Syaoran's turn to pass a look. Chihiro didn't know that in fact, they did have magic. On the other hand, Kohaku did, thanks to that strange voice he'd heard. He chose not to reveal he knew, although he caught their look.  
  
Syaoran was stubborn. "But you didn't disappear!"  
  
This time Kohaku answered. "That's because she's b--" Again, he was cut off, and both Sakura and Syaoran saw her shake her head violently. There was a silence of confusion, in which Chihiro looked at Kohaku from the corner of her eye. He looked just like when he'd left her, only taller and slightly older. 'How much older?' Chihiro thought suddenly. 'He was around 2 years older than me when I came, but he could be hundreds of years old for all I know! But right now in human years, he must be 16. That's so much older than me.I never noticed when I came here last.' She found herself blushing again, although she wasn't sure why.  
  
Syaoran cleared his throat. "So, how do we get back?"  
  
Kohaku paused thoughtfully. "Well you can't get across the river now, it's too far and deep. But none of you turned into pigs, so." Kohaku suddenly looked sad. "You can just go in the morning, I guess." He looked at Chihiro, who looked like Kohaku had announced the end of the world.  
  
"I want to stay here for a while." She reached forward and took his hand. Sakura suddenly felt envious. She could tell that whatever Chihiro and Kohaku had, it was strong. She could almost sense it, almost. She could also tell it from Kohaku's eyes. Whenever he looked at Chihiro, Sakura saw a light, like a beacon from a lighthouse, in his eyes. But when he turned to her or Syaoran, it was gone and he was distant.  
  
Kohaku forced his gaze back at Sakura and Syaoran. "There is one problem."  
  
Syaoran knew what he was talking about. He had almost forgotten it, what with being in a new world and all. "All of the people at home disappeared. How do you know?"  
  
Kohaku explained his dream to them, at which Chihiro clapped her hands over her mouth and exclaimed she'd had a dream with the same 'voice thingie'. After relating both tales a thoughtful silence ensued.  
  
"Well we can't just go back. This is serious, and besides, no one is there." Sakura sighed. She would just have to stay in this weird world for another few days, until they figured out what was going on. (Little did she know.)  
  
Kohaku nodded. "There are things going on here too.I'll have to explain later. We should get out of here. I guess you can come to Aburaya." At this, Chihiro squealed out loud while Sakura and Syaoran were wondering, what's Aburaya?  
  
'Wow I can't believe that I'm actually back! And Kohaku's here, and I'm going to Aburaya! I bet Kamajii and the Susuwatari are still working hard.' Chihiro couldn't help the grin on her face. After four years, everything in the Spirit World had stayed the same. So what if that weird dream was real? Nothing else mattered now.  
  
Sakura followed Kohaku and the others through the strange little restaurant town. Wherever they were going, there appeared to be no threat. Still, she kept her hand by the Sakura Cards just in case.  
  
Syaoran tagged along behind Kohaku. He looked around a year or so older than him. Syaoran stuck by Sakura to make sure nothing happened to her. Chihiro seemed adjusted to this place, so she probably wouldn't be hurt. Anyway she had that Haku guy.  
  
Kohaku had to keep pinching himself from dreaming. Chihiro was back! Even if he hadn't been able to keep his promise, they were together again. After all those long years of waiting.'Best friends.' he thought. Then another memory came up, that made him rethink that last thought.  
  
"You blacked out, remember?"  
  
"Yeah.I remember being in darkness. Then I could hear Chihiro's voice, calling out my name. I followed the sound of her voice, and the next thing I know.I was lying here, feeling better than ever."  
  
"Pure love. It broke Zeniba's spell. She left to return the gold seal. She did it to save you."  
  
- - -  
  
Kohaku, Chihiro, Syaoran and Sakura were standing near the beginning of a bridge. It arched high over the water and train tracks below. It was made of honeyed wood and its railings were thick logs painted red. At the end of the bridge there was a tall building of many colors. It had a green traditional Japanese roof with gold gild on the edges, many windows, and some garden areas behind white lattice fences. On its left there was a tall chimney belching black smoke. The windows were lit up from the inside, and the soft chatter of voices ('whose voices?' Sakura thought fearfully) floated from the grand building. Across the bridge came many odd looking creatures who were greeted by men who looked like frogs. "Welcome!" they said to their customers.  
  
The little group hid behind a nearby tree. Kohaku had told them they needed to get in unnoticed. (He didn't want the trouble that had been caused last time he'd brought a human over the bridge. Namely, Chihiro.) Sakura and Syaoran exclaimed out loud, "It's a bathhouse!" This was extremely surprising to them because they never thought of a bathhouse as looking as fancy and gaudy as this. And in a world full of spirits!  
  
Kohaku turned around. "It's a bathhouse for the spirits. They come here to cleanse themselves. It's really just for the rich ones," he explained.  
  
Chihiro sighed. Lately, all of the memories that she had buried to keep the pain at bay were resurfacing. All of this nostalgia! But Haku was here, her best friend, here to calm her and to take care of her like he'd always done.  
  
"You have to hold your breath when we cross the bridge. Even the tiniest breath will break the spell.and then everyone will see you."  
  
"I'm scared."  
  
"Now just stay calm."  
  
She grinned, thinking of how terrified she had been by the little frog (who caused her to take a breath and break the spell). Chihiro called to Kohaku, "Hey! You have to hold your breath when we cross!" She laughed. It felt good to laugh after a stressed night.  
  
Kohaku smiled. He loved Chihiro's laugh; it was like the sound of bells. Syaoran and Sakura shrugged. They had a feeling it was some sort of inside joke, since Kohaku had told them they weren't going to go across the bridge. But Sakura was curious as to what it meant.  
  
Kohaku turned and motioned for them to gather round him. "Okay." He said softly. "We're going to have to get into the boiler room without being detected. If the other spirits figure out that there are humans in the bathhouse they're all gonna panic. So I'm going to have to turn into a dragon and carry you across to the staircase that leads to the boiler room." He paused, and put his hands on Sakura's and Syaoran's foreheads. Kohaku whispered to Chihiro, "You already know the way."  
  
He sent the images to their minds (to their ultimate surprise) of what it would look like, and told them they'd have to wait by the door. He didn't want the boiler man to get worried or surprised.  
  
"Errr.how many of us can you carry at a time?" Syaoran questioned. He didn't want to hurt this guy, with all of his generosity. (Still, he was wary).  
  
Kohaku hesitated, then, "One at a time."  
  
Chihiro was perplexed. 'I thought Haku was stronger than that. Oh well, I guess three fourteen year olds are heavier than one ten year old.' She was a little uncomfortable with the thought that someone other then herself was getting to ride him. She felt.jealous.  
  
"Okay, let's go." Kohaku transformed into the sleek dragon, and knelt by Syaoran, meaning for him to get on first. He hesitated ('I can't believe I'm doing this.') and then jumped onto him. Kohaku immediately took off, at which Syaoran gave a little gasp, as he was swiftly spirited towards the bathhouse.  
  
Sakura laughed nervously. After seeing Syaoran's reaction, she couldn't help but be a little nervous.  
  
- - -  
  
Chihiro chuckled at Sakura's response as Kohaku lifted her into the air. The first time she'd been on him was when they fell through the abyss in Yubaba's office. He had been unconscious, so it had been more like plummeting through the air than flying.  
  
She leaned against a tree and waited for him to come back. She didn't notice him land next to her (he was being extra quiet). He stood there and watched her for a few minutes. Moving forward, he changed back into his human form. This was the first time in the Spirit world that he'd gotten to be with Chihiro alone. She had been right; he could carry all of them, but he wanted to spend some time with Chihiro without the other humans there.  
  
"Haku!" she said, surprised. "Why aren't you in your dragon form?"  
  
"Can't I get some time alone with you?" she realized he was right; she hadn't been alone with him the whole night. She blushed inwardly at the thought that he wanted time alone with her.  
  
She dared to ask a question. "Kohaku.how come you didn't come back after all these years? It's been so long."  
  
He sighed, looking pained. "I would have come right away, but even getting my name back didn't stop Yubaba. She just kept me here, but I could keep control over my mind. And then." his eyes clouded.  
  
"What? What happened?" Chihiro was worried.  
  
"I can't explain now; I think your friends should hear it too." Kohaku looked downcast, and Chihiro couldn't stand him looking so sad. She needed to cheer him up. Chihiro moved forward and hugged him again. He looked surprised, and then smiled.  
  
"I've missed you so much."  
  
- - -  
  
Sakura and Syaoran waited outside the dirty green door in the oppressing night. Sakura was infinitely conscious of how close Syaoran was sitting by her. He turned towards Sakura.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that----"  
  
"I know. Why did everyone disappear? And what's with Chihiro?" Syaoran leaned against the wall and looked up at the sky. All of the stars were in different positions, but he could see much more of them than at home. Home. He felt a soft pang of homesickness. But there was no one there to come home to.  
  
Sakura put her head in her hands. He put an arm around her shoulders. "I miss Touya and dad, and Tomoyo and everyone else. I hope they're doing okay." A tear escaped her eyes.  
  
Syaoran said, "Everything will be okay. We just need to stay here for a bit until we find a way to get back all of the people. Kohaku probably knows." He hated to admit it though.  
  
Sakura smiled bravely. "Yeah, we need to do all we can so we can make sure all of our friends and those innocents are okay!" Syaoran couldn't help smiling. Sakura was always so hopeful.  
  
"There he is." He pointed at the silver ribbon gliding its way over. Kohaku landed soon enough, with Chihiro on his back. She grinned and dismounted gracefully. Kohaku turned back into a boy.  
  
They all walked expectantly towards the door, Kohaku in the lead, then Chihiro, and Sakura holding Syaoran's hand anxiously. 'This is another spirit to meet,' she thought. Syaoran was glad it was dark so that no one would see how red his face was from holding Sakura's hand.  
  
They passed through a warm hallway into a large room with a high ceiling. There was a step down onto a stone floor. The area they were standing on was made out of reddish brown wood and the walls were made of the same material, only in little boxes ('Drawers,' Syaoran noticed). The whole room smelled like different herbs and was lighted by a gigantic boiler at the end of the room. Across the lower floor, big blocks of what looked like coal were slowly moving their way towards the boiler. Sakura realized that there were tiny black fuzzy things holding up the chunks of coal, much like ants holding crumbs of food.  
  
In front of the boiler there was a high platform made of the reddish wood. There were some large glass jars next to it, and a fan above the platform. Sitting on it was a crumpled looking person who was grinding something. Sakura and Syaoran couldn't see the figure's face. As they watched in silence (Kohaku and Chihiro were watching their reactions) another arm reached out to grab some stuff in the jars, another came out to grab some herbs from one of the drawers in the wall, and still another scratched its head, all while grinding.  
  
Sakura was horrified. Syaoran was stupefied. Chihiro wasn't. She recognized the room, the boiler, the black fuzzies, and most of all, the six-armed figure in the platform.  
  
"KAMAJII!" Chihiro ran forward smiling joyously. 


	5. Explanations and Expectations

Alrite, thanx everyone 4 the reviews! Here u get 2 find out a little mor of whats been goin on, but I cant give it all away cos its part of the plot (plot? What plot???)  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS (whoops ive forgotten 2 put that in agen) or Spirited Away.oh well, I can dream, cant I?  
  
lalala -flashbacks  
  
'lalala'-thinking  
  
~~~ - Dreaming  
  
"lalala"-out loud  
  
Chapter 4: Explanations and Expectations  
  
As Chihiro ran forward, the little fuzzy things dropped their loads and watched the girl run towards the boiler man. They started squeaking and jumping up and down when Chihiro turned around. She ran back to them and stood in the center of the stone floor.  
  
"They're so cute!" Sakura exclaimed. "What are they?"  
  
Chihiro grinned. "They're called Susuwatari. They work for Kamajii carrying coal to the boiler." While she talked the little soot sprites came forward and brushed against Chihiro's shoes.  
  
Syaoran gaped at the little sprites. The six-armed figure had momentarily vanished from his thoughts. "They can carry that coal? But it's so heavy. What are they made of?"  
  
A voice startled Sakura and Syaoran. "I put a spell on them to make them work. They were just soot, but if you take away their jobs they turn back." The voice was old and sounded like a perfect grandfather's voice. It was the boiler man. 'Kamajii,' Sakura thought to herself. He had on dark round glasses and a thick brushy brown beard (moustache-thing).  
  
"Kamajii!" Chihiro cried. She hadn't seen him in so long! It was great to finally be back in the boiler room. She noticed that Haku's blood had been cleaned from the wood.  
  
The old figure smiled. "You're not here to ask for another job, are you? I don't think I could pass you off as my granddaughter again!" He chuckled. "But I have to admit, I am glad to see you. We've all missed you very much. Haku.you must be especially pleased--"  
  
Kohaku coughed, interrupting Kamajii. He looked at the floor for a moment and blushed slightly. Sakura was surprised, as this was the first big sign of emotion she'd seen from him that hadn't been directed at Chihiro. After recovering for a moment, he came forward, as serious as he always seemed to be. "No, we're here to explain things to these two over here." He gestured at Sakura and Syaoran. They drew back slightly.  
  
"Ahhhh.two more humans. Now how did they get here, of all places?" Kamajii leaned towards the two. "Come here, come closer; I won't bite-you can just ask Chihiro and Kohaku here."  
  
A trembling Sakura and a silent Syaoran walked towards Kamajii. Sakura summed up her courage and asked, "You're a spirit too, right?"  
  
Kamajii smiled kindly. "Yes, I am a spirit, and a slave to the boiler that heats the baths!" Syaoran and Sakura managed a small chuckle, Kohaku smiled slightly and Chihiro giggled. He had told her this when she'd first gotten here.  
  
Syaoran coughed. "Do you know what's going on? I mean, what's happening back in.our world. Kohaku mentioned something, but he said he wanted to explain it later." he trailed off. At his words, Kamajii and Kohaku's faces became very grave. Kamajii nodded in understanding and leaned back, staring into the fires. Even he Susuwatari stopped to listen.  
  
"Something has been going wrong in the worlds. When I say worlds, I mean yours and ours as well. We do know that the people have disappeared from your world; one of the messengers brought news of it a little before you came."  
  
"Messengers?" Chihiro questioned.  
  
Kamajii nodded. "Yes, we started to watch the human world after-oh darn it these baths!" he grumbled as a few brightly colored wooden things on purple ribbons fell down a shaft. "Arg! Too much work especially with.well, you pick up Kohaku." He started grinding and the Susuwatari started on with their coal delivering. (A few sat and listened, only to receive a kick from another fellow worker).  
  
Kohaku continued, "We started to send messengers to watch the human world because of things that have started happening in our own world. We thought the occurrences here could be connected to something in the human world. One of the most disturbing things we noticed when we sent messengers was that the time differences were completely out of whack. They used to be perfectly in sync, but now it's night here if it's daytime there."  
  
('So that explains the sunlight,' Chihiro thought.)  
  
Sakura interrupted. "Does that mean spirits started disappearing too?"  
  
Kohaku shook his head. "Spirits aren't disappearing; something's happening to the water. It used to be clear and pure, but now it's becoming dirty and mucky and fish and things are starting to die. The forests too. It's like-"  
  
"The world is falling apart? Yea, for us too. Even in space, things are happening. Holes in the ozone layer, diseases in plants and animals." Syaoran had interrupted Kohaku. Sakura looked at him incredulously. "I read stuff in the papers and on the net." He said in his defense to her look. She relaxed slightly.  
  
Chihiro bit her lip. Something was happening to both their worlds. This was serious. She couldn't let anything happen to her world or the Spirit World. "Do you know why?"  
  
Kohaku shook his head regretfully. "No.only that if people are disappearing, it's only a matter of time before spirits start to disappear too. We could get sick, or just die or disappear. But it's going to happen."  
  
She gasped, clapping her hand over her mouth. "NO! That CAN'T happen! Is there anything I can do?" She had to do something.  
  
He frowned. "I don't even know what I can do. I don't know why you're even here, or why we had those strange dreams." He sat on the little ledge, shaking his head. Kamajii called over his shoulder, "Yes, well I think that we can ex---"  
  
"CHOW TIME!" A small door in the side of one of the walls slid open. A woman (maybe in her twenties) stepped out from under the door. She was holding a plate of food and carrying a large wooden barrel on the crook of her arm. Her hair was long and dark reddish brown, tied in a ponytail at the end of her hair. She wore an orange shirt, baggy pants and a blue apron, and she was barefoot.  
  
As she came forward she stopped in the middle of the wooden floor with a look of shock, happiness, and most of all confusion on her face. Her mouth opened in shock at the sight of the humans, and she dropped the wooden barrel and the tray. Sakura, Syaoran and Chihiro just stared at her. Kamajii's arm caught the tray, but the barrel's contents spilled on the floor. It appeared to be full of Kompeitou, and when it spilled all of the Susuwatari emitted squeaks of dismay.  
  
The woman dazedly noticed the overturned barrel and moved to clean it up. Kohaku came forward. "I'll take care of it Rin." He bent over and started throwing the candy at the Susuwatari. Apparently they ate it.  
  
Rin opened her mouth as if to say something to him, but she couldn't speak. She kept looking back and forth between the humans and Kohaku with a baffled look on her face. Suddenly her voice sliced through the silence. "Chihiro!" she cried, coming forward with her arms outstretched.  
  
Chihiro ran towards her and let herself get swept up in Rin's hug. "RIN! Wow you're still the same!" she started to laugh from being with her friend again. Rin had been more of a mother to her, teaching her to work in Aburaya and acting gruff, although she really cared for the younger girl.  
  
"Oh my gosh, you've grown so much! You were such a skinny gangly thing; now you could probably take on a customer all by yourself!" Rin exclaimed. She was right. When Chihiro had fist arrived in Aburaya and had had to work as Rin's apprentice, she hadn't exactly been up to all of the work.  
  
"Geez, haven't you worked a day in your life?"  
  
"Ach! You're such a klutz!  
  
Chihiro laughed self-consciously. She never really got compliments. "Oh yea, this is Syaoran, and this is Sakura. We all kind of ended up here by mistake.or at least they had to come with me." She explained their situation to Rin, who took it pretty well, although she still looked confused.  
  
Kamajii noticed. "Rin, what's on your mind?" The older woman shook her head slowly, as if trying to figure things out.  
  
"Well, what time did you guys get here?"  
  
Sakura knew the answer. "Around 12:30. I remember because I was.er.woken up around 12:10 and we were chasing Chihiro for at least twenty minutes."  
  
Rin agreed. "That's what confused me. You see, the messenger discovered all of the people disappearing around 12:00 exactly in human time. That's what he told us since it still took him time to get here. And then you all arrived later."  
  
Syaoran didn't see a point. "So? What does it matter?"  
  
Rin stamped her food impatiently. "Well. I thought all of the people disappeared at 12:00, and if you only were awake at 12:10, they all vanished before you woke up. So why didn't you disappear?"  
  
The levity of what Rin had said slapped them all like a rock. Even Kohaku had a puzzled look on his face.  
  
Kamajii said through the stillness, "As I was saying before, I think we can expect something significant from these humans."  
  
- - -  
  
Later that night Chihiro sat on the balcony with Rin in what had been her old living quarters. Sakura and Syaoran were sleeping inside, still tired from the excitements of the night. But Chihiro was too wound up to sleep. She and Rin were catching up on things.  
  
"So what's been happening at the bathhouse? Did you get anymore weird customers?"  
  
Rin shook her head, eyes twinkling in mirth. When Chihiro had arrived, Aburaya had received visits from a stink god that turned out to be a rich river god, and also from the strange spirit Kaonashi (more known as No- Face). "No, things have been the usual. After you left Yubaba had to make enough money to repair the damage. She was in a hissy fit for at least a month. But it all turned out okay because with the money she got, she was able to make the ruined sections more tacky."  
  
Chihiro giggled. Yubaba had slightly bad taste. "Well that's good."  
  
Rin poked her playfully. "Come on now, what have you been up to in the human world?"  
  
She sighed. "Life was SO boring! I kept trying to come back; I was so bored. I was doing well in school and stuff. I did all of the chores ("School? Chores?" Rin said.) and I made friends. But they weren't as good as you, or Kohaku or No-Face."  
  
"What about those two? Sakura and Syaoran?"  
  
"Oh yea! Well they were good friends, or at least Sakura and her friend Tomoyo were. But they were older than me, so they weren't in my er.year for school."  
  
"What about Syaoran? Did you have any other guy friends?"  
  
Chihiro blushed, thinking of her admirers. "Well, sort of. But Kohaku was my best friend ever."  
  
Rin was silent. She knew how much Kohaku had missed Chihiro. She also remembered what Kamajii had told her the day she had come across Chihiro in his boiler room. Kohaku's blood had been everywhere, and Chihiro had been nursing him, with Kamajii watching silently.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"Something you wouldn't recognize. It's called love."  
  
Rin knew Kamajii was right. She couldn't recognize love; it was as remote to her as the distance between the ends of the universe.  
  
- - -  
  
Sakura and Syaoran had woken up. They sat inside the bath workers' room, looking outside through the windows where Chihiro and Rin were talking. Sakura's mind was on what Kamajii had said. She was also thinking about her home.  
  
Syaoran pondered over the past happenings. He could feel something coming, something important. And the worst feeling of all was that he knew they would be caught up in it somehow. He'd had enough of prophecies and quests, of magic and evil and good. Syaoran just wanted to be at home, training, where he could get his mind off of things and just be blankly oblivious to everything except the arc and precision of his sword. But then again.being stuck in another world was a whole new situation. Maybe he could do this thing, whatever some weird destiny of his was planning. And being with Sakura was just another plus.  
  
Sakura wanted to do all she could to help the humans and the spirits, even if she was afraid of them. But she felt so insignificant; even the cards seemed weak compared to what she had seen and felt in this world. She sighed. "How long do you think we're going to be here?" she asked Syaoran.  
  
He jumped, as if he had been thinking too deeply and her question had startled him. "Well.I think we have something important to do here. It wasn't by chance that we met Chihiro and got stuck inside the building. We were brought here for a reason; probably something to do with these problems in the spirit and human worlds."  
  
".Really?" Sakura shook her head. Something like this was too big. They couldn't do anything.  
  
Syaoran turned and took her by the shoulders. "Don't you feel anything? Can't you feel a sense of something significant coming? This whole escapade wasn't by coincidence."  
  
Sakura hated to admit it. "You're right, I guess. I just want to go home. I don't want to have to go through anymore weird events. I was getting used to life being quiet and peaceful." she leaned against Syaoran. "But I'm glad that you're here with me."  
  
His face turned crimson (thankfully Sakura's eyes were closed so she couldn't see him.) ".Yea.m-me too." he stuttered.  
  
- - -  
  
Kohaku stood in the ornate but tackily decorated room. At the other end of the space an old crone sat behind a dark wood desk covered in papers and jewels. Her eyes narrowed when she noticed him. Kohaku kept his composure.  
  
"So.you brought three humans into my bathhouse. What do you have to say for yourself, Haku?" Yubaba casually scratched her neck with her long, ruby red nails.  
  
"I didn't bring them, they came in themselves. They needed a place to stay." Kohaku was trying to convince Yubaba to let Sakura, Syaoran and Chihiro stay in Aburaya for free, without work. "I was hoping you could let them stay."  
  
She grinned slyly. "That'll cost you. I just don't let humans stay in my high-class bathhouse. How about I take off your pay?"  
  
Kohaku nodded calmly, not wanting to show his eagerness. "Yes, thank you Yubaba." He bowed.  
  
She held up a finger. "I do want them to do some work. Everyone who lives here does something. They can be assistants or something.just let them scrub a floor or two."  
  
He bowed again, his sleek black hair sliding past his face, hiding the smile. Kohaku knew this was a good deal, and that Yubaba wouldn't really check on them to see if they were working.  
  
"You are dismissed Haku." Yubaba flicked her wrist, and the doors behind him unlocked and opened, showing him the way out. Kohaku strode silently forward, walking fast.  
  
After passing through corridors and many elevators, he got to the workers' quarters. His own room was separate, under Yubaba's suite. Kohaku slid open the door. Sakura and Syaoran looked up from their spot on the floor against the wall. Rin and Chihiro had just entered from the balcony.  
  
"Kohaku!" Chihiro cried, coming forward. She stopped herself suddenly, looking slightly embarrassed.  
  
Rin asked, "So what did Yubaba say? Can they stay here?"  
  
Kohaku smiled. "Yes, surprisingly. You girls can stay here; Syaoran.you can stay in one of the extra rooms in my place. This is the women's room. Right now, they're all working." He paused, noticing Sakura and Syaoran's looks. "In the Spirit World, we mostly are active at night. That's when all of the customers come. You'll get used to it."  
  
Chihiro spoke up. "There's a catch, isn't there. She always does that!"  
  
Kohaku nodded. "Yea, she wants you guys to do some work while you stay. Just scrubbing floors and stuff. But you really don't have to. It's not like she's going to check on you."  
  
Chihiro shook her head. "No, I want to work here. I don't mind. I can help Rin!" She looked eagerly at her, and Rin grinned.  
  
Syaoran said, "Whatever. It doesn't matter, I can work."  
  
Sakura was embarrassed. She didn't want to work, but with everyone else saying they didn't mind working she couldn't just say no. "Well.okay then. I could scrub some floors, I guess."  
  
Rin could see Sakura's predicament. "Like Kohaku said, you don't have to work. But it isn't like slave labor or anything." She chuckled.  
  
Sakura nodded slowly. Maybe she could work. It wasn't like she was expected to build the pyramids of Giza or anything; it was only scrubbing floors. She could do this; she was used to doing housework anyway. "I'll give it a shot."  
  
Chihiro beamed. "That's it Sakura!" She was proud of the way her friend was dealing with the whole getting stuck in another world and working for your pay thing.  
  
Kohaku turned to leave. He had a mission to complete for Yubaba. "Then we're all set. I have to go now; don't make yourselves too conspicuous. Oh and Rin, get them some clothes." Kohaku walked out the door. Chihiro was disappointed to see him go.  
  
- - -  
  
So six days passed in the Spirit World. The human world stayed desolately empty. If anyone had been there, they might have been weighed down by the silence.  
  
In Aburaya, Chihiro had started working again. She took care of lesser spirits by herself, and helped Rin with the bigger and more powerful ones. The workers didn't mind her working with them, although they still called her Sen, out of habit (which kept confusing Sakura and Syaoran when the Yuna asked them to fetch Sen).  
  
Sakura and Syaoran were kept busy cleaning windows, washing dishes, helping out in the kitchen, and scrubbing floors. Occasionally Chihiro would invite them to tackle a spirit with her, but because of her fear of ghosts Sakura was very reluctant to help out in that department. Of course Syaoran stayed with her, and neither got to work with the customers.  
  
Nothing out of the ordinary (or at least, in the Spirit World's terms of ordinary) occurred during the first few days of their stay. Sakura and Syaoran were constantly amazed and surprised, but even then they got used to the quirky and eccentric ways of the new life they were living after the first few days.  
  
Kohaku was, much to Chihiro's disappointment, scarce. Yubaba had decided to keep him busy for her own amusement of having his little 'human friends' without his company. Still he found time to pop in and check on them, mostly to see Chihiro.  
  
After the sixth day, Yubaba had run out of ideas to busy Kohaku with, and finally got bored of sending him off. It was good timing for what was going to happen on the seventh day.  
  
- - -  
  
The seventh day came.  
  
Aburaya glinted in the sunlight. Inside, workers, sorceresses, a dragon, and some humans slumbered. Everything was silent in Aburaya's vicinity. The sunlight was boundless, stretching everywhere and turning the already lush and colorful scope of the Spirit World vibrant. It seemed that even the world itself was anticipating the arrival of something important.  
  
The train rolled by on its tracks. It was the same train that Chihiro had taken all those years ago. It rolled into the platform near the bathhouse. The train had been transporting a very precious cargo, although it didn't notice. Neither did its passengers, who were just soft shadows.  
  
The girl had glittered among the soft dark-gray shadows. Her hair was ornately done, with strands of hair woven in threads, beaded, or braided. On her head a complicated knot of hair rested, with two gold chopsticks sticking out of the elegant knot. Her hair was silvery-white, the color of snow. She sat perfectly still, like a fragile porcelain figure in her richly embroidered crimson kimono. But her feet dangled from the seat, and her face was young.  
  
The train slowly halted by the platform. The young girl stepped out of the train with graceful ease only acquired with age. She stood and faced the bathhouse, her large gold eyes glittering in anticipation. As she moved forward, the elaborate dressing vanished, leaving her in a plain black kimono and her hair hanging straight down to her back like a long silver sheet of silk. 'For protection,' she thought. 'I would be too noticeable as I really am.'  
  
She walked towards Aburaya.  
  
@ - @ - @ - @ - @ - @ - @ - @ - @  
  
Thanx 2:  
  
YueMichiruNaragisawaMiko, shazaoblossom (yea Syaoran is kinda annoyin but I'll try to make him better), Meta Lise (yay I like Kamajii too! He's so kewl), and Persiphine (no, I don't kno how 2 do italics, I wish I knew how!!!), and Hotaru.  
  
Thanx all u guys!! I cant believe ppl actually reviewed! Hope u liked chap 4!  
  
silent H 


	6. The Seventh Day

Whew! I got chap 5 done! Im so proud of myself! (JK). Here is the (surprisingly) much anticipated 5th chapter where the big question, WHO IS THE GIRL WITH THE SILVER HAIR, will be answered (sort of..)  
  
Anyway, thanx to all of the reviewers!!!! Wow I cant believe you all liked the fic (its my first). I seriously appreciate all of the reviews!!  
  
Disclaimer: oke, I don't own CCS or Spirited Away DO NOT sue me pls!!!! I am but a poor little person with an empty wallet...  
  
lalala-flashbacks  
  
'lalala'-thinking  
  
~~~ - Dreaming  
  
"lalala"-out loud  
  
Chapter 5: The Seventh Day  
  
The workers were running towards the small figure at the foot of the bridge. She stood perfectly still; you could mistake her for a statue. Her eyes were bright gold, and reflected the glare of the building like twin orbs of crystal. She had been waiting for dark to come and for the bathhouse to open.  
  
One of the men came forward. "Hey! You can't come here; you're just a little girl. You're not a spirit!"  
  
She raised an eyebrow. She called to them, "This is a place for cleansing, is it not?" Her voice was compelling to obey.  
  
The spirits wavered. "Errr.yes.but."  
  
She knew she had them. "I have money." she reached into her plain kimono and brought out a piece of gold. "I want a bath. NOW!"  
  
The gold worked like a charm. "Right away, Miss. Come on in!" The frogmen gestured towards the building.  
  
'These spirits are so easy to fool! I had them eating right out of my hand,' she thought. 'You'd think they would be on their guard since I sent Kaonashi.' The girl grimaced. Kaonashi had gotten out of hand. She had to remember to punch some sense into those servants of hers when she got back. ' I wonder where he is.' she mused. 'He must be sulking about, looking for her. Oh well, you can't find good work nowadays; I just hope he won't come and mess things up.' Last she had heard of Kaonashi was that he had been working as a helper to Zeniba. Then he had disappeared. 'I wonder if he's going back to.' the young girl brushed away the thought. 'He couldn't find it; no real person can unless I make them.' Her mind eased, she looked around and marveled at the interior of the bathhouse. It was better than she expected.  
  
Yubaba stood in the inner entrance, greeting customers. Her eyes narrowed when she saw the solemn young girl being escorted by her men. "What do you want?" she asked, suspicious immediately. The girl knew Yubaba wouldn't be as easy to fool. But she had a trick up her sleeve.  
  
"Yubaba." she whispered, so only the old crone could hear. Her voice was coated with emotions; it was sad and happy, angry and unruffled, old and young. Yubaba heard it like a bell in her head, echoing and ringing around until she couldn't think. Then the girl held out her hand, the palm full of gold. Yubaba wordlessly took the money.  
  
"Anything for you, dear," She said in a dull tone, "do you have a particular attendant in mind?"  
  
She smiled. "Yes, I would like Rin. And hurry, if you please."  
  
Yubaba turned around and yelled, "RIN GET DOWN HERE!" Then she turned back and stared into space. One of the other workers moved to show the girl where she was supposed to bathe.  
  
She glared at him. "I will go myself." She walked away. As she rounded the corner, she snapped her fingers. Everyone in the vicinity suddenly stopped what he or she was doing. After a few seconds, their minds were looped back before the strange girl had come. No one remembered she was there, except the workers at the gate. 'But that had been purposeful, to persuade Rin.' she thought.  
  
Yubaba, back at the front, blinked twice. "Okay people, we've got a hard night tonight. Let's not keep our rich customers waiting!" Slowly, the hustle and bustle of the bathhouse returned to its usual clamor.  
  
- - -  
  
Rin sat upstairs, taking a short break from all of the work. 'Tonight is especially busy,' she thought, 'I'm going to have a tough time with Chihiro on break.' She wearily munched on a roasted newt (specialty of Kamajii). As she ate the last delectable morsel, Rin heard Yubaba scream from the entrance. She groaned loudly, and made her way downstairs. Yubaba probably had anther customer for her; she already had some lined up.  
  
"I don't get paid enough for this!" she muttered under her breath, shoving some of the workers out of her way so she could get to the foreman to see which bath number she had to attend. As she approached him, Rin saw him talking to one of the greeting men who worked at the bridge. She heard him telling the foreman about the client.  
  
The foreman saw Rin and waved her over. "Hey Rin! You've got a good customer here, I hear she's rich."  
  
Rin brightened slightly. "Rich?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah," the gateman said, "she had a lot of gold with her! Maybe you can get some tips Rin!"  
  
She grinned. Now that was some good news. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Rin got the tub number and headed for her new rich guest. As she walked, she smelled the herbs mixed in with the bath water. 'Ewww.' Rin thought. She could smell the sulfur soak for the radish spirit. But after all of her working years, Rin had gotten used to the aromas of bath herbs.  
  
Rin found the right bath and walked in. There was a young girl standing by the tub. "What? You're just a girl!" she exclaimed.  
  
The customer ignored her. "Fetch Chihiro, Kohaku, Sakura and Syaoran now! Hurry!" she yelled. Rin hesitated, unsure of what to do. The girl stamped her foot. "Do I have to do this with every stupid spirit in here?" she muttered, reaching into her kimono. Her hand came out with gold. "You want gold? Well go and get them!"  
  
Rin paused, but the allure of money started her feet and she found herself running her room. 'How does she know who they are?' Rin wondered.  
  
- - -  
  
Syaoran, Sakura, Chihiro and Kohaku were enjoying a rare break. They were strewn across the floor on various pillows and could hardly talk for being out of breath. It seemed that Aburaya had been busier than usual. Sakura and Syaoran had been tired out from a bout of floor scrubbing (which Sakura thought was a lot harder than regular housework). Chihiro had just finished a customer off by herself when Kohaku had appeared out of nowhere and told her that Yubaba was giving him the day off. So they had gone to one of the rooms and were later joined by Sakura and Syaoran.  
  
Syaoran cracked his knuckles. His hands were surprisingly sore from scrubbing. He felt odd. "Is it just me.or does anyone feel something weird is gonna happen?"  
  
Kohaku looked at him blankly. "Anything could happen," he said simply.  
  
Sakura had been keeping track of the days by scratching lines in the wall by her cot. There were seven of them. "We've spent seven days here. That's a week. Can you believe it?" Syaoran shook his head in response.  
  
Chihiro smiled. The week had been the best week she could remember since.forever, it felt like. Even if she hadn't seen too much of Kohaku, she'd still gotten to see Rin and feel the good soreness of work that told you you were burning off calories. She leaned back and was surprised by Kohaku's arm that had been debating on putting itself around her shoulders (for some time). She leaned into it, smiling slightly. Kohaku jumped at the sudden contact.  
  
Suddenly Rin burst in through the door. She panted out, "Hey you guys, there's this weird customer who wants to see you all. It's really weird, she just asked for you." "What?" they exclaimed. Only the workers in Aburaya knew they were there, and even then, not all of them. None of the customers knew that the bathhouse was harboring humans, so how could someone know?  
  
"Who's the customer? What kind of spirit is it?" Kohaku asked.  
  
Rin shrugged. "If I could guess, I'd say she was some other kind of spirit. I might even say she was a . human. But," she added hastily, "she doesn't look like any kind of human I'd know. She's really weird but she's rich." Rin told them about the gold.  
  
"I guess we can go." Kohaku said hesitantly. He wasn't wild about going to see some weird spirit. It could be dangerous. But he had no choice; even Rin knew that. Yubaba always made sure good customers got what they wanted; this one was rich, on top of it all.  
  
"All right, let's go then!" Rin said impatiently. (She wanted that gold!). The group got in line, following Rin down the corridors of Aburaya. That particular hallway had heavy redwood beams on the ceiling and walls, and the light reflected off of the wood, giving the hallway a rosy color. Shadows of customers were seen through the decorated rice paper walls, and the soft chatter of workers hummed under the stillness of the hallway.  
  
'Too still.' Kohaku thought. Things were too quiet, especially on a busy night like this. He kept his guard up, walking tensely down the corridors. Suddenly he felt a surge of pain flash through his back. "AH!" he moaned, falling to the ground, but the pain was gone before he hit it. Kohaku knelt on the floor, panting.  
  
"KOHAKU!" Chihiro yelled, coming forward. What happened to Kohaku? "Are you all right?" she demanded. Rin turned around and immediately checked for blood or broken bones.  
  
She frowned. "He's okay.?" Rin paused, uncertain of what just happened.  
  
Sakura looked at him. Kohaku looked fine to her. "Erm, are you feeling well?" She was concerned, but there was not a scratch on him.  
  
Syaoran stared silently at Kohaku. He was still adjusting to the fact that he was a dragon, but couldn't help feeling apprehension for Kohaku. The pain had sounded real enough, but there was no explanation, except for-  
  
"Are you sick?!?" Chihiro asked hysterically. She couldn't imagine him getting hurt, even after the last time.  
  
Kohaku shook his head. He knew what it was. The pain had been a premonition of someone's pain to come. 'I can't tell them though,' he thought, 'I don't want to worry Chihiro.' He gazed at her, feeling happy that Chihiro was so worried.  
  
Rin straightened up. "Well, let's keep moving, then." The group got up, single file again. Kohaku was right behind Rin, followed by Sakura and Syaoran walking together. Chihiro was last.  
  
As they kept up the fast pace, Chihiro felt a tug on her foot and found the ground rushing up to meet her face. For some reason, she didn't call out. Chihiro lay face down on the ground, slightly winded. 'That was odd.' she thought, 'the floors are smooth, so how come I tripped?' as she lay on the ground, Chihiro felt a strange sensation come over her. She felt like she was moving in slow motion, or her body was slowed down with everything moving faster around her.  
  
Chihiro looked up. Rin and the others were already far down the hallway and turning a corner. She should catch up with them. But she felt the inability to move. Chihiro struggled to sit up, and as she managed to get her torso up, the first thing she saw was-  
  
CRRRRAAAAACK  
  
- - -  
  
Rin led the group inside the bath. Sakura, Syaoran, and Kohaku frowned. This wasn't a spirit!  
  
A small girl stood with her back to them, facing the pool. The waters were calm, disturbed only by rhythmic ripples across the glassy surface. Too rhythmic.  
  
She had silky, silver white hair that fell down her back and was smooth like the surface of the water. The girl stood perfectly still, as if she was concentrating. Sakura looked closely. Although standing still, she seemed far from a statue-her whole being was tuned and focused like a vibrating harp string.  
  
All of a sudden, she whirled around. Her eyes were gold ('gold!' Sakura thought wildly, but then, 'I shouldn't be surprised.') and wide with a sudden anger. Her face was pale, and her eyebrows were thin and high arched liked lines painted by delicate brushes. She looked around passionately.  
  
"Where's Chihiro?" she yelled.  
  
- - -  
  
The heavy beam of wood cracked from the ceiling. It fell in slow motion, and Chihiro could only watch in horror as the smooth red surface of the wood came right at her. Around her, Chihiro could hear other beams falling. They were going to drop right over her!  
  
She couldn't scream, only turn around so her head wouldn't get hit. As she turned, the first beam hit her back. Chihiro heard a dull thud, and felt an intense throbbing pain against her back.  
  
Splinters of wood sprinkled around her, and Chihiro thought she tasted blood in her mouth. Coughing, she tried to breathe in, but the leaden beam was crushing her to the floor. Chihiro dimly heard another crack, and in a moment, a final beam fell right on her head.  
  
Chihiro sank into darkness.  
  
- - -  
  
Kohaku gasped. He had completely forgotten her! 'No, I can't forget her,' he thought ruefully, 'she's always on my mind.what could have pushed Chihiro out of my thoughts?'  
  
Sakura looked around. The strange girl was right. Chihiro was nowhere to be seen. Even Syaoran appeared worried. He had become fond of the younger girl, now that he knew she wasn't evil or all mighty.  
  
Rin bellowed out, "Chihiro! Where are you?" She couldn't let anything happen to that kid!  
  
The girl sighed, and turned towards the exit of the tub room. "Well you're coming, right?" she demanded edgily. 'It might already be too late.' she thought anxiously.  
  
Kohaku ran swifter than the wind, knocking workers and customers out of his way. The others followed in his path. He could only think of Chihiro. Something bad had happened to her, he just knew it. And suddenly, he did. 'The premonition!' he thought madly, 'it was her pain!' The despairing thought pushed him on. Kohaku knew he would die if anything happened to Chihiro.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran struggled to keep up with Kohaku. 'I hope nothing horrible happened to her,' Sakura thought. Chihiro had been a good friend.  
  
Syaoran felt penitent. He had never really apologized for what happened in front of the doorway to the Spirit World.  
  
Kohaku was close behind the peculiar girl (how she was running ahead of him, he couldn't imagine). They ran to the hallway where he had felt the pain across his back. Instead of being quiet like it had been before, the hallway was bustling with workers.  
  
"Is she dead?"  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"I think the ceiling collapsed. See the hole?"  
  
The young girl stopped on the outskirts of the crowd. Kohaku pushed forward, knocking people out of his way so he could get to the center; what everyone was looking at. Sakura and Syaoran tried to get in, but they found the crowd too thick. Rin stood near them with a look of despair on her face.  
  
Kohaku stopped in front of the crowd. In front of him, a pile of redwood beams lay on a huddled figure. Splinters of wood and spots of blood were scattered about. He recognized the person trapped underneath.  
  
"CHIHIRO!" he let out a strangled gasp and ran to her. Kohaku knelt by her body. ".Chihiro." he put his trembling hands around her body and clasped her to his chest. And then he started to sob. 'No, no, no, no, no,' he thought, 'this isn't happening, she can't be die, Chihiro don't do this to me!'  
  
Such a display of emotion from Haku (Haku, Yubaba's henchman!) baffled the crowd. Haku was such a solemn person, yet here he was crying his heart out over some human! Unexpectedly, he whirled around. "Stay back! Go away!" he roared madly. The wild look in his eyes drove the crowd away, except for Sakura, Syaoran, Rin, and the silent young girl.  
  
She came forward, with a look of sympathy but slight irritation. "She's not dead, Kohaku." The girl calmly stood near him.  
  
He turned, snarling. Kohaku lunged forward, turning into his dragon form. His eyes were wild with anger, anger at this girl who had come. As he came closer to reaching her, she held her hand out. "Pullaw!" she murmured. Kohaku suddenly hit an invisible wall. The dragon crumpled on the ground, defeated for the moment.  
  
Seeing this, Syaoran pulled out his sword. Some weird girl wasn't going to go around hurting people! At the same time, Sakura held her hand out and released the key.  
  
"Windy! Release!" she yelled, at the same time Syaoran called on his fire elemental. The card glowed, and fire and the distinct form of windy hurtled towards the girl. But she stood calmly.  
  
"Esrever." She said, in the same weird language as before. The ball of wind and flame suddenly turned around, and raced towards Sakura and Syaoran!  
  
"AH! Shield!" Sakura cried out, just in time. The magic crashed against the barrier, and the fire elemental strip of paper and Sakura Card fluttered to the floor. The girl flicked her wrist, and the two slips rose off the ground.  
  
"Clow can't hold a candle to me!" she said, power flashing in her eyes.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran gasped. How could she know about Clow Reed? Sakura considered telling the girl that it was her magic, not Clow's, which was in the cards. But on second thought she didn't want to draw attention to herself.  
  
The girl turned to Kohaku, who had been watching silently for the past few minutes. "And you! This will get you nowhere. Act like a respectable demi- god and calm down!" She was frowning now.  
  
Kohaku quietly turned back into his human figure. "You were the person in my dream," he muttered softly. "So you were the one who knew that they were coming here."  
  
She smiled triumphantly. "About time you figured it out."  
  
- - -  
  
"She'll live, it'll be okay." The girl's words rang out in the stillness of the workers' room. Rin sobbed silently in the corner, and Sakura and Syaoran sat in shocked silence on a cot nearby. After seeing the damage done to Chihiro's back and all of the blood, Sakura had turned pale and Syaoran had held her hand tightly.  
  
Kohaku lay Chihiro down on a cot. He made sure that her head rested comfortably on the pillow, and that the bandage around her middle was secure. He covered her with a light blanket. Sakura noted the tenderness in the way he handled Chihiro.  
  
Kohaku turned towards the girl. "Who are you?" he asked tonelessly.  
  
She only smiled ('Cold smile,' Syaoran thought). The girl walked forward, towards Chihiro's still figure on the cot. "This will mess things up.for me, and for you," she whispered. She put a small white hand on Chihiro's forehead. Then she said something unintelligible. "Og ot eht ecalp, og ot Gnimaerd, uoy lliw dnif flesrouy ereht." Then she stood up and walked towards the door.  
  
"Wait!" Kohaku cried. "Who are you?"  
  
She turned around. "I will return." She paused, and then threw a piece of gold at Rin.  
  
Rin caught it, and hurriedly said, "Thank you." She didn't want the gold. Rin wiped her eyes and murmured something about having to work. She went out the door.  
  
The girl still stood in the doorway. "Perfect your magic," she said to Sakura and Syaoran. "You will need it later." With that she left.  
  
Kohaku silently turned to Chihiro and knelt by her. He put his head in his hands and sat there without a sound, huddled by Chihiro's limp figure. He sat as still as stone.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
oke, not much of a cliffhanger, but don't worry, Chihiro doesn't die! I would never do that to her! So don't worry too much.  
  
alrite, thanx to:  
  
shazaoblossom and meta lise (my 2 most frequent reviewers)  
  
ice blossom **gives big hug!** thanx 4 the great review, im glad u like my fic!! ^.^  
  
Giginka Renamon and firey queen86 and neone else who reviewed! Thanx 2 all!  
  
Ps- - - up till now all the chappies I've posted have been prewritten (xcept 5.that was kinda in the workz) so that's y they came up so fast. I really started this fic back in February so I've been writing it since then. So from now on don't expect too fast updating, lol....  
  
silent H 


	7. Aftermath

Hey all! I wrote this chapter (it's a quickie) at last. Newayz, itz short cos I have something planned (very interesting stuff comin up) and I wanted it to hav its own chapter to itself. So I wrote this one, it's basically just a 'pillow chappie' as I call it. But you don't hafta worry bout the details, ehhe.  
  
I put in some fluff (I think it was pathetic) im not good at fluff, so if neone has ideas or nething just review it n stuff!!!!  
  
lalala-flashbacks  
  
'lalala'-thinking  
  
~~~ with italics- Dreaming  
  
"lalala"-out loud  
  
Chapter 6: Aftermath  
  
Chihiro lay still on the cot. She had been for a day.  
  
Sakura sat on the balcony over the water. She gazed out at the picture perfect landscape in front of her. It was beautiful, but the Spirit World had lost its glamour since the incident. Things were still weird, interesting, and sometimes even fun, but the sight of Chihiro laying on the cot every time you walked in the room would bring the wave of emotions crashing down on Sakura.  
  
Rin walked in the door. She came and sat down next to Sakura, legs dangling through the bars. As usual she had tried not to look at the still form of Chihiro, but nearly everyone who came in couldn't help staring at the bandage around her arms and middle.  
  
Rin cleared her throat. "So have you heard from Haku?"  
  
Sakura sighed. "Syaoran went to bring him some lunch. Last I heard he was on the bridge, brooding." She shook her head. Kohaku had taken Chihiro's accident the worst.  
  
"Poor Haku." Rin murmured.  
  
Sakura thought of something. "Why does everyone here call him Haku? Don't they know his name is Kohaku? Or is it just a nickname?" The thought had been bugging her for a while now.  
  
Rin hesitated before answering. "Well.it mainly has to do with Yubaba. You haven't seen her, but you know she's the head honcho around Aburaya. What happens to.to.things that find themselves across the river has to do with their names."  
  
Sakura was confused. "Things? Across the river?"  
  
Rin nodded. "You see, sometimes humans, or other kinds of spirits somehow find their way into the Spirit World. Then either they eat the food of the gods and get turned into some kind of animal by Yubaba, or they disappear completely because they haven't had any food," she saw Sakura's look. "Yea, it's confusing at first, but you don't have to worry too much about the details. Basically most deceased gods get themselves jobs here at Aburaya, but to get a job you have to ask Yubaba. She took an oath to give a job to anyone who asks, but there's always a catch. You two were lucky because you didn't have to ask her; Haku did that for you. Yubaba takes your name and gives you another one."  
  
Now this confused Sakura even more. "How can she take your name? Wouldn't you remember it?"  
  
Rin shook her head. "No, everyone forgets, even Haku did, except for Ch- - I mean." she trailed off. "Well anyway she gains control over you by stealing your name. And that's what she did to Haku.he completely forgot he was the spirit of the Kohaku River. Worse, he was her henchman. But then Ch- - err.he got his name back. Umm.after.later on.Yubaba wouldn't let him leave because he didn't have a place in the human world. She made sure he told no one his real name, but he told me anyway. So nobody here actually knows he was Kohaku."  
  
"Oh." Sakura sat and lapsed into silence. She struggled over figuring out what Rin had just told her. It was confusing.  
  
After a moment she looked back at Chihiro. She lay as still as stone. Rin stood up and went over by her.  
  
She knelt by Chihiro's side and stroked the girl's forehead. 'I miss you kid.' Rin thought, 'I really do. Come back to us.to all of us. Especially for Kohaku. He needs you Chihiro.' Rin couldn't help the tear that ran down her face.  
  
- - -  
  
"You should eat something." Syaoran held out the package of food. He had been at it for about half an hour.  
  
Kohaku sat silently on the bridge. Come to think of it, everything was silent. The cries of birds rang out shrilly in the air and the passing of the train sounded like thunder magnified to a thousand. And Kohaku still sat like a statue on the bridge, looking at nothing. He might as well have been carved out of stone.  
  
Syaoran tried again. "It won't do you or her any good; starving yourself." He knew how devastated Kohaku was, but going till the point of starvation was a little extreme. Syaoran had to get him to eat. "C'mon Kohaku. You know you're hungry."  
  
But Kohaku was silent.  
  
"Don't you even want a small bite?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"Kohaku, you've got to eat. You haven't eaten for a day now."  
  
Silence.  
  
"You can't go blaming yourself for her accident. We can't have you start to weaken too! Or you'll just end up sick, like Chihiro."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Is that what you want?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"Kohaku." Syaoran whispered pleadingly. But still Kohaku was silent. Syaoran put his head in his hands. He walked forward and left the food next to Kohaku. "Eat it if you're hungry."  
  
Syaoran stood up and walked back to the entrance to the bathhouse. He looked back a couple of times to see if Kohaku was eating, but each time it was as if he hadn't moved.  
  
- - -  
  
One of the frogmen at Aburaya went outside for a break. He had been working hard those past few days.  
  
"Hey Chao!" one of his friends called from an above window, "here's some new food, just baked! I stole it from the kitchen! Have some!" The package came hurtling down at Chao from the open window. He reached up and caught it.  
  
"Thanks Shyu!" he called. Chao greedily unwrapped the package. He smelled the delicious contents inside. 'If Yubaba catches me with this, I'm dead,' he thought, 'better just eat it all now.'  
  
The chubby little worker started to gobble up the food. Apparently, he gobbled too fast. Chao choked slightly, and spit out some of the food so he could breathe. He coughed hoarsely, and put his hand up to cover his mouth. A cough was worrying. There hadn't been a sickness in his family for generations.  
  
Chao hurriedly stuffed the food in his pocket and went back inside Aburaya. He tripped in his haste, and put a hand up against the wall to steady himself. As Chao continued, he didn't notice the red smear left on the wall from his hand.  
  
- - -  
  
Syaoran plopped onto a cot next to Sakura. "He's not eating," he said glumly. Sakura sighed and rubbed her eyes wearily.  
  
"Did he even talk to you?" she questioned.  
  
"No.silent as usual. At this rate I'll forget what his voice sounds like." He joked lightly.  
  
Sakura hesitated. "Do you.think he's trying to.hurt himself?" Sakura knew Kohaku was distressed, but she couldn't imagine starving herself because someone was hurt.Chihiro wasn't even.she shook the thought off. Sakura didn't even want to think of that possibility.  
  
Syaoran shook his head. "No, I think he's just so depressed that all he can do is think of how Chihiro was hurt. He can't even consider eating, I guess. Did you hear he doesn't even report to Yubaba anymore?"  
  
"Really? But isn't that his job?"  
  
"Yea, well all he does is fly for hours and hours or sit around and pining away." Syaoran stood up and walked to the balcony. Looking down, he could see Kohaku sitting on the bridge; a spot of motionless white in a sea of color. Even from that height Syaoran could tell he hadn't touched his food.  
  
Sakura came over. "I can't imagine not eating.or being so depressed," she murmured.  
  
Syaoran turned to Sakura and embraced her fiercely. She was taken by total surprise. But he didn't let go, and she rather enjoyed being wrapped in his arms. Sakura could feel herself burning bright red.  
  
Syaoran thought, 'what did I do that for? Now she probably thinks you're crazy.' But he pushed the thought away. He stepped back reluctantly, and turned to face the side. He became oddly intent on a tree below, and they both avoided each other's eyes. "I would do the same if you had been hurt." he muttered gruffly.  
  
Sakura looked up, (blushing) taken aback. But by the time she looked up Syaoran had left.  
  
'Syaoran.'  
  
- - -  
  
Over the course of two days, life in Aburaya stayed in the same bleak depression. At least to the few who had known Chihiro.  
  
Rin was sad, but had to carry on with her work. During breaks she tried to visit Chihiro whenever she could, and would sit by her and relive old memories. Usually she cried, and sometimes during work a tear would escape, only to be quickly brushed away so as not to disturb the customers.  
  
For Sakura, her work had lost its vigor. She languidly scrubbed the floor, but would keep scrubbing the same spot for endless repetitions until notified otherwise. She tried to stay away from Chihiro lying on the cot (looking at her made Sakura shaky). Sakura began to feel a little homesick. Often she would find herself thinking of Touya and Tomoyo and everyone back home, and then start feeling even sadder. Every now and then something would happen that was interesting, but she rarely smiled or laughed, except in Syaoran's presence (even then it was scarce).  
  
Syaoran was slightly distant after his short moment with Sakura, but still tried to cheer her up. His work was the same, and he scarcely talked during break or work. He kept persevering to get Kohaku to eat, and even tried to start up other conversations with him, but to no avail.  
  
Kohaku was in a state of incredible depression. He sat on the bridge for hours, waiting for the girl to come back so he could find out what was happening to Chihiro. Yubaba was getting impatient. He would spend nights out flying high in the sky, trying to get away from the world. 'It wasn't fair,' was his most frequent thought. Kohaku found himself thinking he would die himself without her smile, or scent or happy aura. He never knew how he had made it those four years.  
  
When the room was empty Kohaku would sneak in and sit by Chihiro for ages, staring at her or trying to give her food. He went to Kamajii and asked for herbs to dress her wounds and to try and heal her. The ones for the wounds were working, but she still lay asleep.  
  
Often he wondered what was going on inside her mind. If she was unconscious, or was thinking and alive and just couldn't speak. Was she paralyzed? Was she terribly ill?  
  
One would think Chihiro was probably blacked out.out cold. She never moved, and not a flicker of emotion or movement crossed her face, unless the wind came and blew a lock of hair out of place (in which Kohaku would carefully replace it). Yes, Chihiro most likely was unconscious.  
  
Or was she?  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
oke, here's to all my reviewers (you make my day all...sunshiny!!!)  
  
Crazy/shazaoblossom: yup! You're smart, you figured it out! Thanx 4 not spillin da beans.and what she was saying was a spell-it was directed at Chihiro only.  
  
***to all those who figured out what the girl is saying, Gnimaerd is supposed to be like that-it's a PLACE  
  
firey queen86: I'll get to the girl in the next chappie, promise  
  
MagRowan: she's speaking..you'll find out.....sometime (mwahahah)  
  
And to: Persephine, , Larania, Meta Lise, siren, and YueMichiroNaragisawaMiko. Luv ya guys!!!  
  
silent H 


	8. Gnimaerd

Yay! I finished chapter 7!! Woohoo! Anyway, I think this chapter will be very interesting.if there are any questions, concerns, or anything else, then REVIEW!! Hehe yea ~.^  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Spirited Away or CCS!!! Why would I? If I DID this would be a movie script already!!!  
  
lalala-flashbacks  
  
'lalala'-thinking  
  
~~~ - Dreaming  
  
"lalala"-out loud  
Chapter 7: Gnimaerd  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
There was a shrine. It was huge and ancient, sitting in the middle of the large granite courtyard. There were gardens, and pathways with iron wrought benches along the paths. The stones in the courtyard were gray flecked and smooth. There were spots for trees to grow in the middle of the granite slabs-willows, cherry trees, oaks, ashes, beeches, and countless others. But none obscured the view of the temple.  
  
It had many columns, and high grand arches. The roof was black tiled, and there were rooftop gardens dotting its gentle slope. Trails of ivy and morning glory snaked up the pillars and windows. The whole atmosphere was tranquil and serene.  
  
A girl sat in a bench nearby. She watched the lines of people. Little children tugged at harried mothers' skirts. Elders waited patiently. Groups talked together in hushed voices. She didn't know why they were lined up; probably there to see someone. Someone important. 'I must be here to see someone too,' she thought. Suddenly she realized that she couldn't remember anything that happened before that moment.  
  
The girl looked around, confused. 'How come I can't remember who I am?' The thought was frightening. All she could recall was the scent of the gardens and the sight of the temple. Like she had just woken up from a dream, and here was real. 'But why wouldn't it be real?' she thought.  
  
The girl noticed a woman approaching her. She was a plainly dressed woman with a pleasant look on her face. "She will see you now, Chihiro." The woman gestured towards the temple doors. They were open.  
  
"Is that me?" she asked, "am I Chihiro?" The name was familiar to her lips. "Chihiro." she whispered. Glancing up, Chihiro saw the doors still open. She walked up the steps and entered.  
  
The inside of the temple was dark and slightly musty. Chihiro could distinguish shadow-like figures moving around in the background. The temple stretched forwards; there was a long red rug leading up to a throne-like chair at the end. Seated in the throne was a shrouded figure. She stared at it. The figure was motionless.  
  
"You know where you are, don't you?"  
  
Chihiro started. She hadn't noticed someone standing next to her. It was a young girl, most likely ten years of age. She had long, silvery-white hair and large golden eyes. But her eyes seemed to hold more wisdom than a normal ten-year-old would have.  
  
Chihiro paused and thought for a moment. "This is."  
  
The girl answered for her. "The Temple of Ananda, in the city of Uoyera1 in Gnimaerd2."  
  
Chihiro nodded slowly. She turned to the figure, trying to figure something out. There was something in her mind, something she knew.  
  
"I'm here to see someone." she whispered. The golden-eyed girl listened and nodded. Chihiro thought some more. She stared hard at the figure in the shroud on the throne. It was too still. It could have been a statue. 'That's not right,' she thought, 'I don't think that's the one I'm here to see.' Chihiro waited for the answer to come. She knew it would, and waited patiently. When it came she was surprised.  
  
"You?!" she gasped, turning to the young girl. "I'm not supposed to see that, that thing.I'm here to see you!"  
  
The girl laughed joyously and threw her arms up in the air. Suddenly the dark and gloomy aura of the temple disappeared. Chihiro saw the shadowy figures in the background were servants bustling around. The dark figure in the chair collapsed, like a piece of cloth that had nothing to sit on. She turned to the girl next to her. Instead of the plain garb she had been wearing before, the girl was wearing a rich crimson kimono. Her hair was up in tiny braids and an ornate knot. All of a sudden, she had the appearance of one much older than Chihiro. But the girl still had the look of a child.  
  
The girl smiled. "Well done Chihiro!" she cried.  
  
Chihiro was confused. "What did I do?"  
  
"You've passed your first test!"  
  
"First test? What--where--I mean, who are you?"  
  
The girl became serious. "Haven't you guessed? I am the Oracle! I am the person you need to see. I am ANANDA!" she yelled the last word out loud. Her voice seemed different on the last word, and it rang a bell in her mind. Chihiro tried to remember, but nothing came. Words.voices.dreams.. She decided not to push it.  
  
"So your name is.Ananda." Chihiro paused. 'Oracle.' "Then you can tell me who I am!" she cried happily. Now she could find out who she was.  
  
Ananda sighed. "It's not that easy Chihiro." She grabbed Chihiro's wrist and pulled her along the corridors of the temple. It was surprisingly larger than it had seemed on the inside.  
  
They passed rooms, countless hallways and servants. Some rooms were open, and others were closed shut. The shut doors flashed by, ominous black monoliths breaking the calm white of the walls. The floors were made of countless different materials. Polished marble, granite, wood, carpet, reeds, and rushes. The walls were plain but had many lovely prints, but not too many.  
  
Finally they arrived at one of the rooftop gardens. It was beautiful. The scent of flowers was strong, but not overpowering. It slipped behind the curtains, under benches, unnoticed but there in a solid presence. She could smell thousands of different kinds of flowers, but the most distinct smells she detected were that of Daisies and Irises. Flowers..  
  
"Wow." she whispered, "you can see everywhere." The courtyard below stretched out in a square, and the smaller paths and gardens were all visible. After the gardens were forests and a river. Beyond that were plains of rolling green grass, and in the distance, faint purple mountains.  
  
"Chihiro." Ananda said, sadly. Chihiro turned around from the view to look at the girl with sad gold eyes. "Do you remember this?" She reached around Chihiro and touched her back. Her hand came back with blood.  
  
Chihiro gasped. But suddenly, it made sense. ".I was.hit.by wooden beams? I was knocked.out.?"  
  
Ananda nodded. Chihiro knew something was coming. A memory.  
  
The beam menaced above her. A futile attempt to protect her head as it fell on her back. Pain. Coughing, blood. Splinters falling around her, and then the final blow on her head.  
  
"Oh." she whispered. She knew she had been hit. Ananda knew too.  
  
"That's all I can tell you," Ananda said, "now it's up to you to remember who you are."  
  
Chihiro shook her head. "But.how?"  
  
"This is why you're here. The Temple is.a place of renewal. Anything is possible. Until you can remember what has happened to you--everything--you will remain here." Her tone was pitying, and somehow comforting.  
  
Chihiro sighed, confused again. "So let me get this straight. I got hit in the head, I have amnesia or something, and I was sent here --"  
  
"To me," Ananda replied, "in the Temple of Ananda, the city of Uoyera in Gnimaerd." Her eyes were like golden lasers. Chihiro felt like they could see into her soul, as if they already knew what Chihiro couldn't remember.  
  
".to get my memory back." Chihiro sat in a thoughtful silence. 'My name is Chihiro. I.I'm..okay, I don't know my age. Where was I before this?' she mused, 'where is Gnimaerd? Where do I live.where is.the world?'  
  
Ananda watched Chihiro think. It pained her to see her with no inkling of who she was, of what she was going to do. If Chihiro couldn't recover, she would never return to herself.never find.  
  
"Where do I live?" Chihiro asked.  
  
Ananda shook her head. "I can't tell you."  
  
"Where is this? Where is here?"  
  
"Gnimaerd."  
  
"Well where is Gnimaerd? Where do we exist?"  
  
Ananda walked over to a plaque on the wall. It read: The Temple of Ananda, Uoyera, Gnimaerd. "You will know where Gnimaerd is when you are ready to go back."  
  
"Back where?"  
  
"To your.home."  
  
Chihiro gave an exasperated moan. "So I'm stuck here knowing absolutely nothing about me except that I had an accident and now I have some freak case of amnesia and I'm stuck here in the middle of.I don't know.and I have to remember everything by myself. Just my luck."  
  
Ananda smiled mischievously. "Correct. But what is luck? Is it just.chance? Or coincidence?"  
  
Chihiro looked at the oracle curiously. "How old are you?"  
  
She didn't answer. "Do you believe in fate?"  
  
"What kind of question is that? Fate is.when your life is already predestined. That's just boring." Chihiro rolled her eyes.  
  
"How would you know if it was predestined or not? When you live your life out you never know if it's preordained unless you go to an accurate fortune teller." she cocked an eyebrow.  
  
Chihiro opened her mouth. Then she closed it. After a pause she muttered, "I'm going to be stuck here for forever."  
  
Once again, Ananda shook her head. "No, sometimes memories can be reawakened by a scent, or sight. When you remember one thing, it will open a hole in the wall, setting a wave of recollections on you. And forever is a very long time."  
  
Chihiro was silent. Then, "If I can't remember who I am, then how come I know other things?"  
  
For once, the oracle looked startled. "Other things?"  
  
Chihiro nodded. "Well, I remember how to ride a bike. If you gave me a bike, I could ride it, right here and right now. But you see, I can't remember ever learning how to ride one, or riding one before. There are no recollections."  
  
The oracle frowned thoughtfully.  
  
Chihiro continued. "I know what a computer is. But I've never seen one! Or at least, I don't remember seeing one. Not a thing. All I remember is what happened from that bench in the yard. But what I know."  
  
Ananda turned to her. "What you do know," she repeated softly.  
  
"Couldn't have been learned in that frame of time. I must have learned it all, but all that's left is the past few minutes and instructions. How to cook, how to scrub floors, math, art, vocabulary..none of it means anything without memories to back them up."  
  
Ananda patted Chihiro on the shoulder. "Try not to think to hard. Memory is like a spider's web. If you push to hard, it'll break. Now come with me. You need to relax."  
  
At a much slower pace the oracle took Chihiro to a large room. The floors were tiled and there was a large tub in the middle. The soft scent of bath herbs floated in the air. Chihiro breathed it in. For some reason she didn't mind it. It was almost familiar.  
  
She noticed Ananda watching her, almost as if she expected Chihiro to do something. Or remember something. 'But why would bath herbs strike up a memory?' she wondered.  
  
"Relax and take a nice relaxing bath." Ananda told her.  
  
Chihiro nodded.  
  
"If you need anything, just yell my name. I'll come, or a servant if I'm busy." Ananda walked out of the room. Chihiro noticed that her feet were perfectly silent, like a cat's padded feet. Then with a jolt she realized that the oracle had no shadow. Looking down, Chihiro was shocked to see she didn't have one either.  
  
Shaking her head dazedly, Chihiro undressed and stepped into the warm waters. She leaned against a tub wall and breathed a long, deep breath of air. Something within her flickered. She tried to remember, but didn't want to push.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Kohaku stared at Chihiro's emotionless face. Something twitched. He gasped. "Chihiro!" he cried. But she didn't move. Kohaku leaned forward, trembling. When no movement yielded, he leaned back.  
  
Without wanting to, he cried. He leaned onto Chihiro and sobbed silently. "You don't know how much this is killing me." he whispered.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Ananda stood on a balcony overlooking the temple. A man came up to her. Without turning she said, "Aiden, what are you doing here?"  
  
The man smiled. Aiden was very handsome, and looked no older than seventeen years. His teeth were nice and even. "So I hear you've got a new self to rejuvenate. A.Chihiro? Is it not?"  
  
The oracle rolled her eyes. "Yes Aiden." Sometimes he could be very full of himself, but he was a really good confidant.most of the time.  
  
He waited for an explanation. None came. He sighed exasperatedly. "Ananda, you know she'll draw Kaonashi here! And if he comes and messes things up, then Chihiro will never get to--" Aiden halted suddenly. They weren't supposed to mention that out loud. He knew Ananda knew he knew, and they never talked about it. And Aiden knew that even Ananda, oracle as she was, didn't know the full meaning of what would happen. To her. And Chihiro would have to get better in time for it. This was another screw in the works. 'But maybe Kaonashi will have a part to play,' he pondered thoughtfully, 'well.only time can tell. But not too much time.' He looked worriedly at Ananda. She still looked okay.  
  
Ananda sighed. "Aiden, you know Kaonashi can't come here unless I let him or call him. Nothing could let him except me."  
  
He nodded silently. She was right. Only the invited could come to Uoyera. "Well, I'm an exception," he said playfully.  
  
She rolled her eyes.  
  
"Well it's the truth!" Aiden grinned. He could come and go as he pleased, unless Ananda got too annoyed and blocked him or something. Boy, could she get angry.  
  
A timid maid approached the pair. "My lady, it's time to get back to them."  
  
Ananda nodded. "Thank you, Claidi. You are dismissed." She turned to Aiden. "The people.they need to see me. I guess a new batch came from the train. I should get going." She gave an apologetic smile.  
  
Aiden nodded in understanding, his green eyes sparkling. "Ekat erac, Ananda."  
  
"Dna uoy."  
  
~ - ~ - ~  
  
Oke, thanx again to all of my wonderfulness reviewers!!  
  
James Birdsong: thanx! Im glad u really liked it ^.^  
  
Andiavas: eheh thanx 2 u too! Don't worry, Chihiro isn't dead.u can tell from this chappie hehe!  
  
Sakurachick03: hehe I'll try to update as much as possible!  
  
Larania: no, she'll stay and keep her human-ness...but she will learn some kewl moves (fighting) later on in the story!  
  
And thank you's also Bea, shazaoblossom, Daremo, Persephine, and Tiger of the Fire!! I luv all of yous!  
  
silent H 


	9. Sakura, Syaoran, and the Iris Spirit pt ...

Hey everyone, I'm sooooooooooooooooooo sorry that I never updated for a while. I feel soooo guilty, cos I kept getting reviews, n I wuz all lazy n stuff.of course there was the factor of spring va-K and the whole my cp- getting-all-screwed-up-and-having-to-rewrite-chap8 thing. So PLEASE accept my apologies!  
  
Anyway, this next chappie is divided into two cos it would be too long if I put the whole thing in one chapter. (I also wanted to put in a cliffhanger! Tee hee ^.^). Please enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: and now, the moment you've all been waiting for.the story that was inspired by 2 stories I do NOT own.read on!  
  
lalala-flashbacks  
  
'lalala'-thinking  
  
~~~ - Dreaming  
  
"lalala"-out loud  
  
Chapter 8 (part I): Sakura, Syaoran, and the Iris Spirit  
  
"Okay, you guys are going to have to take over for me," Rin said hoarsely. She coughed. "I feel terrible.I don't know why though."  
  
Sakura's mouth was agape. Attend to spirits? After all that time she'd been avoiding the whole working-with-spirits-thing? "Uh-uh," She said with finality, "I can't do that.I'm afraid of spirits and ghosts!"  
  
Rin shook her head. "Well you're gonna have to get over it, because if I can't tend to my customers, who will? Then Yubaba will get really mad." She sighed. Rin didn't really want to make Sakura and Syaoran do the hard work, but she felt like a muddy puddle. Working was out of the question. But what really worried her was the getting sick part.  
  
Syaoran spoke up. "I thought spirits didn't get colds."  
  
Rin grinned offhandedly. "Me too. So can you please?"  
  
Sakura and Syaoran gave each other glances. They had to do this; they couldn't let Rin tire herself out working all night.  
  
"C'mon Sakura, it'll be fun." Syaoran encouraged, "We have to help Rin." 'Besides,' he thought, 'I want to get closer to the spirits. It'll be interesting to attend to one; maybe I can talk to the other workers too.'  
  
But Sakura was thinking the opposite. 'Oh man oh man oh man! Spirits, ghosts; well I better get used to this--until Rin gets better.der.' She gave a huge sigh and a nod. "Okay, okay, I'll do it."  
  
Rin gave her a big hug. "Thank you so much guys!" She watched as Sakura and Syaoran walked outside. Rin coughed again, longer and louder.  
  
"Are you okay?" asked another worker.  
  
Rin nodded. "I'm fine."  
  
- - -  
  
A few days later, Sakura was sitting down and massaging her feet. She was fresh out tired. Customer work was harder than just scrubbing floors. Sakura vaguely wondered how Chihiro could manage it, but then quickly brushed away the thought. Thinking of Chihiro was painful.  
  
Instead, she turned her mind to all of the spirits she'd had to attend to over the past few days. Stink spirits, radish spirits, and various animal spirits. They had been given the hard tasks; scrubbing the big tub had been one of them.  
  
Sakura stared at the big tub in horror. "Syaoran! It's so."  
  
"Dirty?" he grinned. "What's a little mud and slime gonna do?" Syaoran hefted his broom and marched towards the mucky tub.  
  
A few hours later, Sakura was on her knees, covered in slime. Chichiyaku's head popped in. "Hey.when you're finished, you've got a customer waiting."  
  
Sakura and Syaoran had decided to split up the work for that predicament. He consented to take care of the spirit, and Sakura would stay behind and finish the tub. He'd meet up with her later. Sakura wasn't completely up to this prospect. But cleaning was easier than catering to another creepy spirit.  
  
That had been a few hours ago. Now Sakura was resting and waiting for Syaoran. Her joints ached.  
  
"Sakura!" She turned, hearing her name. It was Syaoran; she could recognize his voice over the din. And she was glad to see him.  
  
"You okay?" he asked, concerned.  
  
She grinned. "I'm fine. Just.tired. And hungry!" Sakura's stomach growled as if to back up her statement.  
  
"I'll get some food then. Wait here." Syaoran moved off through the crowd. Sakura watched him, and before she spaced out completely her mind wondered of what Kohaku was doing right now.  
  
- - -  
  
The next day Syaoran found himself stiff and tired. He glumly waited for Chichiyaku to give them their next assignment.  
  
"Alright," the Chichiyaku said to Sakura and Syaoran, "you two get." he looked at his list, frowning slightly.  
  
'He's probably gonna give us the hardest or stinkiest spirit to attend to!' Sakura thought. She fidgeted slightly from nervousness.  
  
"Ah. You'll be attending to the Iris Spirit, otherwise known as.um.well the name is blurred. This is a new customer so don't mess up! Bath 357." With that, he left to boss around some other workers.  
  
"Wait!" Syaoran called after him. "How can we tell which spirit it is?" But Chihiyaku was already busy somewhere else.  
  
Sakura looked around. She spotted a nearby worker. "Um, excuse me, but how do we tell which spirit we're supposed to attend to?"  
  
The woman looked up, surprised. "Well, you go to the entrance deck and you should recognize your spirit."  
  
Sakura shook her head. "Sorry, but I think ours is a new customer, so we haven't seen it yet.and Syaoran and I have just started working with spirits."  
  
"Oh," she nodded sympathetically, "then you can ask Yubaba. She stands there greeting guests sometimes. If she's not there you could ask Aniyaku or Chichiyaku or the other Yuna which spirit is yours."  
  
"Thank you!"  
  
"By the way, what spirit are you attending to?"  
  
"The Iris Spirit." Sakura called over her shoulder as she left to tell Syaoran.  
  
The Yuna watched Sakura go, slightly confused. "An Iris Spirit? Why, we haven't had one in ages! This should be exciting."  
  
- - -  
  
Aniyaku grunted with annoyance at the two humans approaching. 'Great. Another load to this night,' he thought. He tried to keep his focus on the customers coming into the bathhouse. Some of them behaved so regally, like they were the queen of the world or something! But he had to smile, yes, how are you, smile, thank you for coming back, smile. At the end of the day his cheeks hurt.  
  
The two humans had got to the greeting platform. "Hello.um could you point out to us which one of these spirits is the Iris spirit?" asked one of them, the girl.  
  
He sighed. Honestly, didn't these two know that the Iris Spirits hadn't been here for years now? "My dear girl.you must be mistaken. There haven't been any Iris Spirits visiting since--"  
  
"Iris Spirit!" called one of the workers, announcing its presence. Everyone seemed to be surprised and startled from the appearance of the Iris Spirit.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran turned to look at their customer. The Iris Spirit was beautiful.  
  
It had smooth pale skin like white silk and was very tall and elegant. Its eyes were light lavender and it didn't have any kind of garment on; it was covered in the leaves of the Iris plant that grew from its head like olive- green tresses. The spirit brought the fragrance of lilacs into the bathhouse and let off a soft whitish-mauve glow. Atop its head, like a crown, was a magnificent white Iris blossom.  
  
If anything, this spirit was a girl. 'Unless spirits have no gender.but look at the Yuna,' Sakura thought. She was in awe of the Iris Spirit. If anything, it should have gone to the best attendant in Aburaya, not to her and Syaoran.  
  
Syaoran looked at the spirit in question. There was something wrong about it, but he couldn't tell what. Aniyaku's voice interrupted his thoughts.  
  
"Why hello my dear Iris Spirit! Thank you for coming to the baths.ah.here are your two attendants. I hope you don't mind that they're humans. They're quite civilized, you know." He bowed with great aplomb.  
  
Everyone looked at the spirit, waiting for its response. Unfortunately, it gave none. The spirit stood calmly, looking down at Sakura and Syaoran. Aniyaku began to wonder if it had heard him at all. He sighed. "Well you two.get along now! We can't keep our customer waiting." He gave a large, phony smile and ushered Sakura and Syaoran down the hall, the Iris Spirit trailing along behind them.  
  
Sakura definitely noticed some heads turning as she and Syaoran led the spirit towards bath 357. It pleased her to be noticed, for once. When they arrived at the right bath (which was a special new one created like a sauna room, although if spirits knew about saunas Sakura wasn't sure) she let the Iris Spirit in and closed the door. The room immediately got quieter.  
  
'These rooms are much better than those others,' Syaoran thought, surveying his surroundings. The walls were light and bamboo with paintings on them. The bath was in the middle but there was a bench around the perimeter of the room. It smelled new.  
  
Sakura held up a bath token she'd filched while no one was looking. "One compost soak, comin up!" She'd chosen it because plants needed fertilizer, and she vaguely remembered elementary school where teachers demonstrated the goodness and recycling qualities of compost.  
  
Syaoran went and picked up some bath scrubbing items; although why this spirit needed to be washed he hadn't the faintest clue. It was as sterile as a doctor's needle.  
  
Sakura pulled the rope for water and watched as the hot water streamed out of the long wooden trench. She breathed in deeply. Compost soaks weren't that bad-she'd expected smelly brown water, but this water was only tinged a brownish green, and smelled like.a little bit of everything that grows.  
  
A soft mist floated around the room, creating a warm humid atmosphere. Syaoran turned towards the Iris Spirit, to usher it into the tub. He frowned. The spirit was leaning against the wall, panting and blinking rapidly. It almost looked like it had a fever or was going to faint.  
  
"Sakura.look." He pointed.  
  
Sakura turned and saw the hyperventilating spirit. She immediately felt something was wrong. "Syaoran! I think it's sick, or something." Sakura approached it, cautiously. Syaoran hesitated. He didn't want Sakura near it.  
  
"Don't get too close!"  
  
But she crept near anyway, until Sakura was almost two feet away from the Iris Spirit. It closed its eyes for a long time, and slid down to the floor. She gasped. "Syaoran! It fainted! Go get someone, quick!"  
  
Syaoran rushed to comply. Spirits getting sick and fainting? He pulled on the door, but to his surprise, it was stuck. "It.it's stuck!"  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
He strained, pulling with all of his weight. "Yeah."  
  
Sakura shook her head, and crept closer to the unconscious spirit. Suddenly, its eyes flashed open. But instead of the soft lavender just moments before, its eyes were deep red. Sakura stood up instinctively. Those eyes.  
  
The Iris Spirit.or maybe not the Iris Spirit anymore.straightened up. It flexed its long fingers, and looked up at Sakura, trapping her in its crimson stare. As she watched, the leaves on its head got darker, poisoned, mottled; the blossom on top looked diseased. Its skin had turned ashy gray.  
  
"Syaoran!!!!!!" she yelled, turning around and running away. Syaoran already got his sword out, ready to fight.  
  
"Just hide Sakura! I don't want you to get hurt!" he yelled as he charged forward. Syaoran swung his sword and cut the beast in its arm. Black ooze spilled out. "Not beast!" he said, "You're a demon!"  
  
The demon turned and growled. It grabbed his sword, and with strength like iron, bent Syaoran's hand. The blade cut him in the side, and Syaoran sprang back, clutching his stomach where the blood was. Sakura had had enough. "I don't care Syaoran! You're not getting hurt either!"  
  
But as she moved forward, something in his eyes made her take a step back. "NO!" he yelled.  
  
The demon stepped in front of him, and delivered a few powerful blows to his head and chest. Syaoran went flying against the thick wall. He fell onto the bench, unconscious.  
  
Sakura yelled, "SYAORAN!" But he was out cold. "That's it!" she screamed at the demon, which stood there, ready to spring on her.  
  
She gained her composure and tried to think of something. 'Of course! The cards!' she thought. Sakura brought out the key to release the wand. The demon came flying at her and both of them crashed against one of the other walls, Sakura pinned down.  
  
Struggling as she might, Sakura couldn't get out of the fatal embrace. The demon grinned evilly. It took off one of its hands and held up a finger. A long, thin, and deadly, pointed claw grew out of it. The creature positioned its hand directly on her neck. Sakura felt the steely point against her sweaty skin.  
  
She took a deep breath, and the demon brought its hand back to strike.  
  
~ - ~ - ~  
  
so how's that for a cliffhanger? (XD) *doges veggies*  
  
Thank you to all of my reviewers, ther are so many that it would take forever to do this, but I appreciate all of you SO MUCH! You gave me motivation to write this story, and write it fast!  
  
silent H 


	10. Sakura, Syaoran, and the Iris Spirit pt ...

Hey yo! I'm so happy I got to finish this chappie.memorial day wkend rox man! N now u see out what happens next! Any questions, concerns, or anything else, dial 732-000-0000-00000-000001 (not really) OR just push REVIEW!  
  
Disclaimer: I own my brain! And this plot! And that's it.  
  
-flashbacks  
  
'lalala'-thinking  
  
~~~ - Dreaming  
  
"lalala"-out loud  
  
Chapter 8 (part II): Sakura, Syaoran, and the Iris Spirit  
  
She took a deep breath, and the demon brought its hand back to strike.  
  
Sakura looked deep into its eyes. She saw only the fire-flecked irises and the deep black pupil, but somewhere in there was that elegant spirit that had been taken over not so long ago. 'I can't kill it.' she thought, 'but somehow I've got to heal it of whatever is wrong with it.'  
  
Suddenly the hand came bearing down on her neck, and a second later she would have been too late for remorse. In a flash of a second Sakura wriggled her hand holding the key so the top was facing up.  
  
"RELEASE!" she shouted desperately. With a bright flash of light that momentarily stunned the demon, the staff grew long-and up-and hit its chin. The demon stumbled backwards. A few steps only, but enough for Sakura to run away and hastily put together some kind of plan. Or more like some serious impromptu thinking.  
  
"FLY!"  
  
The magnificent wings spread out from her back and Sakura felt herself lifted up. She was tempted to just hover there and rest (because man, was she sweaty and tired!), but the Fly was only supposed to give her time and stay out of reach of the demon to think.  
  
Sakura spotted Syaoran lying amidst broken boxes. She flew over, picked him up, and quickly deposited him on a ledge out of harm's way.  
  
By now the demon was furious. It was banging on the wood and scratching anything within reach.  
  
"SWORD!" Sakura held up the staff and watched it turn into the nifty blade. 'There,' she thought, 'wings and a sword. All I have to do is corner it, not kill it or anything. What could go wrong?'  
  
She dove down, brandishing the blade. Sakura grunted as she fought, sword against nail, with the demon. "Ergh!" she muttered as a result from flying too close. The thing had scratched her. Sakura winced and tried to ignore the oozing blood down her arm. More fighting ensued amongst 'mmph''s and 'ahrg''s, mostly on Sakura's part.  
  
She flew back up, panting. Sakura needed a break. ('Just for a sec', she consented). After a moment, Sakura flew down. As she approached the demon, she flew over the tub. Her wing beats caused a stir in the pool, and a small wave of water flew forward with her. It hit the demon.  
  
It started thrashing about.as if in pain! The demon shrieked as it tried to wipe of the water, but to no avail. The water hissed and left white scorches on its gray skin.  
  
'The compost!' she thought triumphantly, 'it's the compost! The water must make it burn, and the compost could counteract the evil thing inside! That's why the skin turned white when the water touched it.or something to that effect.'  
  
Now, how to get it inside.  
  
"WINDY!" Sakura cried. The elfin figure of the Windy hurtled towards the demon, arms outstretched. 'Come on, come on.' she thought anxiously.  
  
Windy's ghostly form wrapped around the demon's, and she tried to pull on it towards the tub. The demon roared with anger, but it was more like annoyance, since Windy didn't seem to be having any affect on the monster. Sakura felt a déjà vu from the time when Windy hadn't worked on the Mirror Card. That was so long ago.  
  
"Shit!" Sakura rarely swore, but there was a first time for everything. She thought hard. Sakura needed a card that could fight this demon. Well, if the demon had originally been the Iris Spirit, then maybe.Flower? But no, Flower was weak. Then what would work? Something of the same kind of element.of course!  
  
"WOOD!" she yelled. It was so obvious. Sakura just hoped that Wood could take care of this demon. As Wood appeared, she noticed a big similarity between the once-was-Iris Spirit and Wood. How odd.  
  
The two locked arms, and Sakura thought the demon looked surprised to not be meeting air. Sakura shouted at it, "HAHA! We've got you now!"  
  
Although the Wood looked frail, the Wood card held her grip on the demon, forcing it backwards. She wrapped tendrils of vines on the demon, to which it reacted with astonishment. It tried lashing out, and successfully cut some of the vines with its nails. But the Wood kept the vines coming, and there were too many to get rid of alone.  
  
Sakura watched in anticipation as Wood drove the demon closer to the tub. It wailed agitatedly as it caught sight of the water. With a final heave, the Wood let the demon in with a loud splash. Torrents of water flowed over the tub. Sakura had to cover her nose as a strong acidic smell came from the water. Shrieking and splashing could be heard, and hot clouds of steam rose.  
  
Cautiously, Sakura descended towards the tub. It was still too foggy to see anything, but the noise had subsided, except for the almost silent ripples of water. She noticed that Wood was still there. Sakura went and knelt beside it, right next to the tub.  
  
For once in what had been a long time, the card actually looked at her. Not just glanced, but stared, and Sakura saw a medley of emotions in Wood's eyes. The card then reached out with its soft pallid hands and put its slender fingers under Sakura's chin, tilting her face up towards its own. And for the first time since the Dark and Light cards, it spoke to her.  
  
"We are ready. This will not be the first test."  
  
Sakura asked hesitantly, "Test?"  
  
"There is much to come." And that was it. The Wood went back into its card, which Sakura picked up, mystified. It was still the same pink Sakura Card, but the only difference was that the Wood's eyes were open. They had the same clash of emotions in them, too.  
  
Still shaking her head in disbelief, Sakura looked at the tub with an air of surprise. The fog had cleared, and so had the water. There was nothing in it except for a single white Iris.  
  
- - -  
  
Syaoran felt the pain of knocking into the boxes. He felt dizzy, disoriented as he sank into unconsciousness. His last conscious thought was of Sakura.how he had to help her. But his arms and legs wouldn't move. And Syaoran's mind slipped sideways into darkness.  
  
After what seemed like ages of darkness, he felt his body being moved away from the rubble of boxes and splinters.almost like he was flying. Wearily, Syaoran tried to open his eyes, and stared up groggily. For a moment he saw angel wings and thought, 'I must be dead.it sure feels like it.' Then he fell back into unconsciousness.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"Syaoran. wake up." The voice was comforting, soft, almost like his mother's. "Open your eyes," it told him.  
  
Syaoran groggily obliged. He felt sore and disoriented, and all he could see with his half-open eyes was white. Recalling his last thoughts, he muttered, "I am most definitely dead, then." Of course, he was in some state of disconnection from reality that resulted in his unfeeling conclusion of death. In anyone else's case, they would have most likely broken down and started crying, but in Syaoran's situation, he was already broken down.  
  
His blurry eyes tried to focus, and then he saw a gentle, pale, luminescent face. He vaguely recalled the Iris Spirit, and wondered faintly how it had gotten better.  
  
"Syaoran.thank Sakura for me. Tell her.tell her."  
  
But the voice was growing fainter. He couldn't hear much, and all he heard was: "innocence...needs...take it..tell her, Syaoran."  
  
"I'll tell her," he mumbled, mind being taken out of the dream and returning back to his body in the Spirit World.  
  
"Syaoran! Syaoran!" he heard, growing louder.  
  
"I'll tell her, don't worry," he murmured again.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"Syaoran!" Sakura shouted, shaking his shoulders. She heard him vaguely mumble something like, "Take it.I'll tell her." It was a good sign that he was alive, although delusions weren't so good. Sakura shook him harder.  
  
"Mmmph." Syaoran made a muffled noise as Sakura stared concerned at him. He dazedly opened his eyes. "Sakura?" he said, sounding far off and faint. He shook his head, as if to clear cobwebs from it. "Sakura." It was a statement, and he sounded much more sure of himself.  
  
"Ah.thank goodness you're all right!" Sakura shouted happily. He was okay! A little on the slow side, but okay. She wrapped him up in a hug, unaware of the blood and sweat on them both.  
  
Suddenly Syaoran realized that Sakura was hugging him. Although he was weak, Syaoran managed to jump up in surprise, and then noticed that she had wings and that he was on a high ledge. He also noted a faint tangy coppery smell floating around in the air.  
  
Sakura laughed. "Don't push yourself. I think that crashing into boxes might have injured any regular person." She started to softly push on his legs and arms to check for broken bones, which Syaoran embarrassedly submitted to. He winced when she prodded his back, which was the sorest part.  
  
"Ngah! That hurts."  
  
"Sorry.I wonder what we'll tell Chihiyaku and Aniyaku when they see this." Sakura gestured around, and Syaoran saw the scratch marks, the water everywhere and the cuts and blood on Sakura. He saw she was holding the staff, which explained the wings.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah. Fine, just tired. I think I'll be feeling this tonight." She pointed to some bruises on her arms.  
  
Syaoran nodded absentmindedly. He looked at the tub, and saw the Iris blossom floating around in it.  
  
Sakura asked, "What was it that you were saying? When you woke up?"  
  
Syaoran said nothing for a moment, and then told her about the dream-thing. Sakura smiled when he told her that the spirit had said thank you, and glanced at the Iris in the tub when he told her the obscure parting phrase.  
  
"I think she meant this," Sakura called as she flew down to the tub and fished out the flower, "but what for, I have no idea."  
  
He nodded. "I think that's it. But I'm still confused about the innocence, and she said something about needing." He lapsed into a thoughtful silence. For a few moments, they stayed like that, Syaoran thinking on the ledge, and Sakura floating by the tub, staring at the Iris. After a moment Syaoran used his wind to float down from the ledge, and Sakura returned the Fly card and re-shrank the staff.  
  
In an unspoken agreement, both of them walked towards the door to figure out what they should tell Aniyaku. Sakura pocketed the Iris.  
  
With surprising alacrity, the door flew open to reveal a panting Yuna. "Yubaba would like to see you," she told a bruised, bleeding, sweaty, and stunned pair.  
  
- - -  
  
Aiden waited, to some extent patient, in his library. It was a huge maze of shelves, paths, rooms, and books. Many spirits or humans could get lost inside it. The former he was most worried about. It had been quite a bit since he had dispatched the Iris Spirit, and he definitely hoped that it hadn't completely hurt Sakura or Syaoran.  
  
A servant-spirit offered the slouching man a drink. He waved it away impatiently. Aiden was used to being alone, except for the company of the servant-spirits. But soon he was expecting company. Four special someones, as long as Ananda was able to do her thing quickly.  
  
Of course, there were many things that could go wrong. If Chihiro didn't recover in time, it might already start to happen to Ananda. She was already losing her humor. There was also the possibility of Chihiro never regaining her memory, which would definitely screw everything up completely. Either way, she had to get better soon.  
  
Then, the Iris Spirit could have infected some of the other spirits, or destroyed those two humans. And there was the whole deal with Kaonashi. He was an unknown. Aiden didn't know what Kaonashi's goal was.  
  
The handsome young man sighed and rubbed his temples. Lately, after his not so long ago discovery, he had been getting more headaches. It was hard to hide things from Ananda, especially when they were about her. Especially when they depended on four humans that Ananda had affinity for. 'Prophecies,' he thought with a roll of his eyes, 'what can you say?'  
  
Suddenly another servant-spirit appeared. "It has arrived, sir, but not in a good form. It may be hard to communicate with."  
  
Aiden sighed with relief. As long as it was here, things were okay. "Well bring in man!"  
  
The servant-spirit disappeared. A few moments later it came in with the Iris Spirit. It looked paler, translucent.  
  
"How did it go, my dear?"  
  
The spirit bent to one knee and kissed Aiden's hand. "Thank you.thank you," it cried. Aiden couldn't help but grinning. He loved doing good.and getting attention.  
  
"Yes, well I was happy to help. I knew that they would cure you. But tell me, how did they do? How did it go?"  
  
"I do not remember much; I think it was the girl that cured me. I might have injured the boy. As you know, I was not in control of my actions."  
  
"All right, that's fine." He thought for a moment. The workers at Aburaya should probably be able to heal any wounds. "Did you tell them? What the Iris was for?"  
  
"Yes.I told the boy, although he might not have heard right. But they did take it, so you don't have to worry about that."  
  
"Good! Good!" Aiden smiled. He had nice, even teeth. "Very good. You can go now, you're cured." He smiled again as the spirit left, bowing slightly before exiting.  
  
Aiden fell back into a train of thought. So things were going according to plan. If the humans didn't exactly know what the Iris was needed for, then they should be able to figure it out once they arrived.  
  
Which reminded him that he had to inform Ananda that they were ready. Any time now, she should do that dream-thing and get them over here. But again, there was the deal with Chihiro. And making sure that Ananda didn't know what he was up to. Of course, she did know partially about it, but Aiden had taken care that she wouldn't know fully.  
  
He sighed again, rubbing his temples. Aiden stood up and started walking to find the exit from the library. A visit to Gnimaerd was in order.  
  
~ - ~ - ~  
  
hey y'all, thank you very much for all of the reviews! I wish I could thank u all but I gotta go n study 4 a big test (XP)! When I win a big shiny trophy (lol yea rite) you'll b the first pplz I thank!  
  
silent H 


	11. Revelations

Whoosh! I have finished the 9th chappie!!! Yay! I wuz gonna put all of this stuff in it but I had to cut it down agen or else it wud hav been waaaaaaay too long. So I promise, Chihiro WILL wake up in the next chappie! *cheering from audience* "thank yew, thank yew"  
  
Geez, you ppl must have luck or smthing, cos I DID do well on that big test. I didn't ace it, but I did get a 44 out of 45! So thankee's all around. Now I need luck on finals..=_='' o wells, don't expect another update THAT soon. And pls review! (for sum reason the reviews kinda dried up a little! But o well I'm happy w/what I got so far! ^.^).  
  
Disclaimer: Hey I don't own SEE SEE ESS or ESS dot AY dot !!!  
  
-flashbacks  
  
'lalala'-thinking  
  
~~~ - Dreaming  
  
"lalala"-out loud  
  
Chapter 9: Revelations  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"So how are you doing so far?" Ananda reclined serenely in her chair, holding a cup of tea with the hint of a smile on her lips. She wore a snow- white kimono that made her look like a ghost, with her white hair and pale skin. Like a ghost with owl eyes.  
  
Chihiro sighed. Things hadn't been going very well. "Well, I can't remember anything," she said flatly.  
  
Ananda smiled. Chihiro obviously was disappointed. She just didn't realize, or didn't want to realize, that things like these take time. "Have you had any glimmers? Like you almost had something but it isn't quite there yet?"  
  
After thinking, she nodded. It was kind of annoying when Ananda did that. She always proved her wrong or made a point that was hard to refute. "Yeah.that's happened quite a few times. Especially when I take those baths."  
  
Ananda nodded. That was exactly what she had thought. "Then you're getting somewhere. You may not feel it, but you're making progress."  
  
Chihiro nodded sullenly. She hated not knowing things. "But it's so frustrating! I really hate not knowing who I was, and whom I knew." she slumped down in her chair, looking awkward and gangly next to Ananda, who sat like a perfect china doll.  
  
The oracle smiled sympathetically. Lately, Chihiro had noticed that the oracle was laughing less and less. Smiles were starting to become rare too.  
  
Chihiro noticed so many other things while at the Temple. Things not altogether normal (although how she knew normal and not was unknown). Chihiro glimpsed a train once, and thought she saw shadows inside it. But when they came out they were real people. Chihiro felt that familiar tugging at her memory when she saw it.  
  
In Gnimaerd, it was always warm and sunny, except only once when it had been cloudy. Chihiro saw that Ananda had become unnerved when she saw the clouds, but said nothing of it to Chihiro. There were gardens too, lovely gardens where the flowers never died or withered, and where Chihiro's memory kept dancing out of reach. She loved the smells of the flowers, and could remember most of them. The most prominent ones were Daisies and Irises, among others.  
  
Chihiro smiled back and sipped her tea. It was sweet. Conversation commenced, though not about Chihiro's memory. Ananda and Chihiro often talked about other things that Ananda brought up to stimulate Chihiro's mind. Chihiro would need to be wise when she could return to her body.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Ananda sat in one of the gardens. It was night, and the moon shone brightly on the Temple.  
  
She felt a slight tap on her shoulder. Ananda whirled around, and found herself facing Aiden. He was smiling. She didn't smile back.  
  
"You scared me."  
  
Aiden chuckled good-naturedly. "I would never try to scare you. Lighten up."  
  
Ananda sighed. She didn't know why she felt so cross every now and then. She suspected that Aiden knew something she didn't, which was rare. Ananda decided it was only fair for Aiden to have his privacy too, and didn't push it.  
  
"Maybe I really should try blocking you.then I'd get some peace in here." She turned from her position on the bench and looked at him, one eyebrow inclined.  
  
For a moment, Aiden just stared at her. It was surprising how serious Ananda could look sometimes, and it was usually unnerving because she looked like she was only ten years of age. 'Only ten years old on the outside, but much older,' Aiden thought, 'and really quite pretty, for so young.' Of course sometimes she looked older, as if her face changed ages at random, but most of the time she still looked ten.  
  
Snapping out of his reverie, Aiden wondered if Ananda was joking or being serious. Then she started laughing. It wasn't a big laugh, but it was good enough. Aiden relaxed. All wasn't lost, yet.  
  
He shook his head at her. "Don't you do that to me Ananda! Then you'd never have any fun." His eyes twinkled, and he sat down next to her on the bench. "So how is Chihiro doing?"  
  
Ananda was silent for a moment. "It has been quite a while. At least half a month has passed back in the Spirit World, but Chihiro has been here in Gnimaerd for much longer. Perhaps months, or weeks."  
  
"You're being evasive again."  
  
"Well, she hasn't remembered anything. I let her take lots of baths, with the herbs so they may trigger a memory. But it's only tugging at her."  
  
Aiden frowned. This was very bad. If Chihiro wasn't remembering anything yet.he shuddered slightly and glanced sideways at Ananda, who was staring off into space. "Maybe it'll come around," he suggested.  
  
"No.I don't think so." Ananda shook her head. "I don't know what to do."  
  
Aiden was startled. Ananda didn't know what to do? Now this was something. Under different circumstances, this would deserve some major poking fun at. But they were in a tense state of affairs. After a moment's pause, he asked, "Any news of Kaonashi?"  
  
Relieved at a change of subject, Ananda replied, "He's trying to get here. He won't succeed, of course. I don't know what he wants."  
  
"Me neither. As long as he doesn't harm Chihiro."  
  
Ananda murmured consent.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Kohaku sat silently by Chihiro's side. His silky hair hung in front of his bowed head, but he would not let any tears fall.  
  
Over the past few days, Kohaku had thought upon something. Well, it had actually been on his mind ever since Chihiro had returned to the Spirit World. Later on in his hours of blank staring Kohaku had turned the thought over and over in his mind. The thought was very confusing. Most spirits had never known.love.  
  
He loved Chihiro. Maybe ever since he'd saved her from his river, but until recent events, that had only been.a kind of sibling love. He'd cared for her, and looked after her, but Chihiro had been young and romance alien to Kohaku. Not to say he didn't feel a deep bond there.but not the kissy kissy stuff.  
  
Now he was older (at least by Chihiro's years) and perhaps capable of real love. Kohaku hadn't realized how much he'd missed Chihiro until she came back. And now.this.  
  
Ha ran a pale hand down Chihiro's cheek, wishing she'd get up.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Chihiro woke up. She ran a hand down her cheek several times. She'd woken up with the odd feeling that someone had been running a finger down her face.  
  
Sighing, Chihiro walked to a window by her bed. Most of her sighs were laden with frustration at not knowing herself. 'But it could happen any day now,' she thought, 'I'm getting better at pushing at that tugging feeling'.  
  
Obeying a sudden impulse, Chihiro opened her balcony doors and stepped outside. She breathed in deep the fragrant air of Gnimaerd. Stress partly assuaged, Chihiro rested her head on the railing, eyes half open and idly staring out in front of her.  
  
It was in this position that she saw it. One of the spirits at the Temple, she assumed. He was black and partly translucent, moving in a half gliding, half walking motion. Although he was far away, and Chihiro a few stories up on her balcony, she could make out a white mask on his face. And she remembered.  
  
"Kaonashi."  
  
The name escaped her lips without her knowing it, like the reaction when a doctor hit your knee. "Kaonashi," she said again, sampling the word like she had her name.  
  
Chihiro immediately turned around and made her way out to where Ananda usually spent the night, running like the wind.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Kohaku stared at Chihiro. What was that?  
  
"Kaonashi."  
  
He jumped, and shook his head warily. 'Did she just say.?'  
  
"Kaonashi." Chihiro repeated.  
  
For a moment Kohaku sat with his eyes wide. Then he jumped on Chihiro, shaking her shoulders as if it would wake her up. Of course, he'd tried it before, but with her saying things, then maybe.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"Ananda! Ananda!" Chihiro panted, running across the moonlit courtyard. As she ran she had to keep stopping because she felt like an invisible assailer was trying to knock her down. And her shoulders felt kind of giddy.  
  
Chihiro could see Ananda's silvery hair, practically glowing in the moonlight. And beside her sat.a young man. She couldn't see him from far away, but steadily his face became clearer as she got close. He motioned to Ananda, and she turned around, surprised.  
  
She ended up with her hands on her knees, panting in front of the stranger (and he was quite handsome) and Ananda. For a moment there was an awkward silence.  
  
Chihiro was curious about the man. "Who are you?" she blurted out suddenly.  
  
For a moment, the man gave her a piercing stare. Ananda stayed silent. Then he spoke. "Well if it isn't the famous Chihiro!" His voice was pleasant.  
  
Chihiro blinked. He knew her name?  
  
Ananda stepped in with the politeness of an old lady. "Chihiro, this is Aiden, my.ah."  
  
"Consultant, of sorts," Aiden said, "I have taken interest in your predicament.very tragic, yes..Ananda has been informing me of your progress." Ananda nodded, as if to back him up.  
  
She stepped closer to Chihiro. "Is there something bothering you?"  
  
"Err." Chihiro paused. Should she tell Ananda in front of Aiden? What did it matter, since he had been apparently informed of her doings. "Well.I remembered something."  
  
At those four words, a change came over Aiden and Ananda. Aiden's eyes fired up, and he suddenly looked terribly impatient to hear what it was. Ananda raised an eyebrow, but you could tell that she was tense. "Yes, Chihiro?"  
  
Chihiro took a deep breath. "Okay.I was sleeping, and then I woke up cos I thought someone was, um, touching my cheek. And then I went to the window cos I couldn't go back to sleep and I saw one of your client-spirit-things. And I recognized him."  
  
Ananda took a swift glance at Aiden. He could tell what she was thinking. Kaonashi. "Who was it then?" he asked.  
  
"His name is No-Face; Kaonashi. I remember." and for a moment Chihiro hesitated, and Ananda saw in her eyes that Chihiro was remembering more. ".I think I helped him before, because he was getting really rowdy or something. And then...he followed me somewhere.no.. I took him along. And he stayed there.but now he's here! In Gnimaerd.Ananda, what is he doing here?" The last bit was directed at Ananda, and she looked up, startled, as if she had been thinking.  
  
"Chihiro.that isn't important right now. What is important is that you remember Kaonashi, and that this could open up more things for you. Pretty soon your memory should come back. And then you can return to.where you came."  
  
Relieved, Chihiro smiled and bowed at Aiden and Ananda. With a lighter heart, she walked back to her room, caught up in remembering.  
  
"So this was his purpose."  
  
"I guess so, Ananda. Do you think he can bring it all back again?"  
  
"I'm not sure."  
  
Two pairs of eyes watched Chihiro's slim figure meander across the courtyard, and one invisible spirit followed.  
  
- - -  
  
Sakura and Syaoran waited nervously in an ornate hallway. Sakura busied herself with studying the jade and ruby swirls in the floor, while Syaoran apprehensively stared at the redwood doors in front of them. He focused on the gold knocker, made in the shape of a bird with an (very ugly) old lady head on it.  
  
Suddenly, it spoke. "So.you two tackled the Iris Spirit. Why don't you come IN?" At the last word, the doors swung open, revealing countless more tacky hallways and fancy doors, gilt and crystal shining in the rosy lampshade lights.  
  
"Whoa." Sakura murmured.  
  
Syaoran stepped over the threshold. "Come on. Let's see what Yubaba wants with us."  
  
Nodding timidly, Sakura followed. 'I wonder if she's angry at us.' Sakura recalled Rin fearing what Yubaba would do if she found out that Rin wasn't working. 'I hope she isn't!'  
  
Syaoran led on following a labyrinth of doorways. Then he heard the same voice yell (sounding quite annoyed), "All right, come on, I haven't got all day!"  
  
Sakura felt a tug on her chest and found herself being propelled in the opposite direction that Syaoran had been going. She was relieved to see him being pulled alongside her. He looked annoyed and also curious. 'Probably as to how Yubaba's doing this,' Sakura thought.  
  
The 'ride' came to a stop, and Sakura managed to gain her balance and not fall facedown on the carpet. Syaoran landed perfectly oriented.  
  
The two looked around them and saw Yubaba seated at a large desk covered in papers, jewels, and gold.  
  
'Someone needs a nose job,' Syaoran thought.  
  
~ - ~ - ~  
  
thankees to all of my wonderful reviewers! Especially that one who said she reads my story to her sister! I think that's so sweet..tell her that I'm sorry I haven't written that fast, I'll try my hardest!!!  
  
silent H =D 


	12. Are You Dreaming?

Aite yo! Chapter 10 is finished, as is SCHOOL! Thank god for that. Sorry to all that it took a bit to write this one, it IS longer than usual, I think, but the Harry Potter book came out and well, I spent a whole day reading it! It was soooooo awesome that I finished it in one day, lol. But anyways, I got this chapter written, and on to 11! (with no school I shall try to get it out ASAP!)  
  
Oh yes, finals went really well! I think I did good on them (we don't get our grades until July), and thanx 4 all the luck!  
  
Disclaimer: *laughs like a maniac* I own everything! EVERYTHING! Well, except for CardCaptor Sakura or Spirited Away. Darn.  
  
-flashbacks  
  
'lalala'-thinking  
  
~~~ - Dreaming  
  
"lalala"-out loud  
  
Chapter 10: Are You Dreaming?  
  
Yubaba stood up and walked towards them. She wore a smile that bordered on sadistic and malevolence, and her eyes glittered like the many jewels on her gnarled fingers. "Ah yes." she murmured, "you two were the ones that took care of the Iris Spirit just now."  
  
Sakura and Syaoran stayed silent. While Syaoran's silence was defiant, Sakura's was in fascination at Yubaba's big (literally, but figuratively as well) head.  
  
Yubaba cocked an eyebrow. "One would never have expected it from you two lazy good for nothing humans.so tell me.what are your names?" She leaned in close and stared Syaoran in the eyes. Yubaba gave a glance at Sakura, which made her cringe in return.  
  
"We're not telling you!" Syaoran shouted suddenly. He remembered what Sakura said Rin had told her about names.  
  
At this she sighed and walked back to her desk. 'Pretty smart,' she thought. Yubaba sat and picked up a ring and looked at it absentmindedly. She seemed like she was vacillating between something that was important and something she'd rather do instead.  
  
After a long, tense silence, Yubaba gave another sigh. "Okay.I guess this is not the best idea, it'll have to do." Sakura realized that Yubaba was talking not to them, but to herself. Then she continued, directing her information at them. (Sakura and Syaoran were still standing in front of the fireplace).  
  
"I think that you two have already noticed that the Iris Spirit seemed.sick, how you say. And I do know that Rin is sick.along with other workers in Aburaya." Sakura looked worried. She hoped Yubaba wouldn't fire Rin or anything.but she was too nervous to speak up.  
  
"I also think that upon your arrival you have been informed of the differences and problems in our world and yours.and that you are perfectly aware that you and Chihiro are the only humans.existing at the moment. Anyway, I believe that this needs more explaining.  
  
"The origins of this imbalance between the worlds has not affected the Spirit World until recently. Of course, I would have not minded if only the human world had been plagued by it, but that is beside the point. Now the imbalance is affecting us through some sort of sickness. The sickness has developed into two frames, one that just turns into what you'd call a heightened case of pneumonia; the other, outside of the bathhouse, has started to try destroying spirits from the inside.  
  
"Now spirits have berserker blood in them, and can control it. But when they feel that they are being threatened, they will let that side out in efforts to prevent whatever is happening to them-as you have seen in the Iris Spirit. In Aburaya, the herbs of the bath water seem to be lessening this illness into the pneumonia state.  
  
"I believe that these epidemics are similar to humans disappearing.but it still doesn't make complete sense. For us spirits, we have the painful and slow way, while for some reason the humans just.disappeared. But I have no idea, like many others, of what is causing this imbalance."  
  
Here, Syaoran interrupted. "You don't know? Well I thought that you'd know everything about your bathhouse, Yubaba." Sakura sensed some sarcasm in his voice. Yubaba's eyes flashed in annoyance, but she remained silent for a moment, as if resisting an inner struggle. "Yes, I do NOT know. But I HAVE tried everything possible TO know." There was a tight silence.  
  
Sakura asked, "But why are you telling us this? We're just.humans." "But you three survived. Surely that must mean something. Why would only you three humans survive? Doesn't it make you wonder?"  
  
With that Yubaba stood up and walked to a window, muttering to herself. Sakura and Syaoran gave each other sidelong glances that spoke, "what is she hinting at?"  
  
She turned around with a sigh. "I hate even thinking about it, but I'm going to have to send you to Zeniba."  
  
Syaoran and Sakura chorused, "Zeniba?"  
  
Yubaba waved her hand with an annoyed roll of her eyes. "Yes, yes, my twin sister. I hate even bothering to talk about her. We don't.get along."  
  
Sakura raised an eyebrow. Two Yubabas? One was enough, fine thank you.  
  
Yubaba continued, "I don't know what you humans could do about all of this, but Zeniba might understand." She added in hastily, "Not that she knows more than me. Zeniba just.doesn't have as much money or enough preoccupations to ah.take up her learning time, unlike me. We are VERY different." As if satisfied with herself, she sat down with a plop on her chair.  
  
Syaoran asked, "So how are we supposed to get there?"  
  
Yubaba frowned. "I had been counting on Haku to take you, as he can fly, but now that that stupid dragon is moping about he might not want to budge from poor Chihiro's side," she said with another roll of her eyes, "But it doesn't matter, because I want all of you humans going to Zeniba's. So when Chihiro wakes up, Haku will get happier and you can all leave."  
  
"But Chihiro might.she might not wake up." Sakura said hesitantly.  
  
"Tch! She is not dead." Yubaba scoffed.  
  
"I meant soon. She might not wake up soon."  
  
"Then.well.wait. You can wait, can't you? The entire spirit population won't disappear that fast. And besides, more customers keep coming because they think the baths can cure them."  
  
Sakura frowned. Yubaba was acting like she didn't care at all. Syaoran sighed, and asked, "Can we leave then?"  
  
Yubaba waved a hand distractedly. "Yes! Go on, and see if you can get Chihiro to wake up."  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
A soft breeze blew and rustled the leaves in the trees. The Temple stood, glittering in the sun, and a small figure sat at the bottom of the granite steps. Ananda rested, waiting for the train to arrive and drop off the ghosts of humans or spirits.  
  
Sakura's 'legend' was right. When humans died, some of them had unfinished business and stayed behind on earth to haunt the living humans. But sooner or later, they passed into the Spirit World and boarded a train. On the train, ghosts were black.  
  
Kamajii said that the train went only one way. But the last stop was Gnimaerd, and once the train left Gnimaerd it was right back at the beginning again. And only the spirit-ghosts were left on the train by the end. If so desired, they could get off at other stops, but Ananda let them come to Gnimaerd anyway, and she, the Oracle, helped them to finish their business and to pass away properly.  
  
But today, Ananda could see no one. The entire courtyard was empty. Except for one thing.  
  
Kaonashi cautiously approached the Oracle. Ananda stood up to her full height (which was not very tall, her having the look of a 10-year-old) and said suspiciously, "What do you want?"  
  
"Ah.ah."  
  
Ananda sighed, irritated. "Follow me then, and we'll see what you're up to."  
  
She led him through corridors and stairways, and surprisingly enough, Kaonashi managed to keep up with her brisk pace. Ananda came to a halt in a long, bright corridor. There were no doors, except for one, but there were countless windows, of any shape or size. There was stained glass, dark glass, clear glass, and soft chimes tittered as they hung from the pane less windows.  
  
Ananda walked to a door and opened it to a room that was filled with musical instruments. Bells, chimes, drums, guitars, violas, and horns were crammed in shelves or on the floor. There was a grand piano in one corner that you could see through, and at the far end of the room, by another set of doors that were open to a large balcony, sat a large bell that looked as if it was wrought of diamond.  
  
She took one small iron bell from a shelf, and turned towards Kaonashi. Ringing it in a counter-clockwise circle she said, "Kaeps, keeps."  
  
The bell rang sweetly, and the sound went directly towards him. Kaonashi coughed, and coughed again. Ananda stopped ringing.  
  
"Chihiro." Kaonashi said.  
  
Ananda raised an eyebrow. "Well then, what do you want? You've started her memory going, what else can you do?"  
  
"I must help Chihiro."  
  
"You've done all you can for the moment. It'll come back to her slowly. And anyway, why would you want to help her?"  
  
Kaonashi coughed, and then continued, "She helped me when I was seized by my hunger.in Aburaya. But don't you already know that?"  
  
Ananda ignored him and frowned thoughtfully. Of course she knew it, she just wanted to see if there had been anything else. Any other reason.  
  
He spoke up again. "I know she's important Ananda. The question is, do you?"  
  
For the first time, Ananda looked scared. Then she mastered herself, and snapped, "I do know."  
  
Kaonashi remained silent. Ananda asked, "But how would you know?"  
  
"It has already started."  
  
She stepped backwards with a mixture of anger, fear, and sadness on her face. "Ecnelis!" she shouted, ringing the bell clockwise this time. Then sounding remorseful, "Go to her, then."  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Chihiro sat on the Temple floor, thinking. Ordinarily she'd've had breakfast with Ananda, but she was nowhere to be found. But it was fine with her. She could sit and try to remember.  
  
An odd feeling overtook her, and Chihiro spun around. Kaonashi was standing behind her. She stood up slowly and stood face to face with him. Chihiro felt a twinge of fear, but from what, she didn't know. Then a picture flashed in her mind.  
  
  
  
Chihiro gasped and took a step back. But that hadn't been in Gnimaerd! Then where.  
  
Kaonashi reached forward. Chihiro took another step back, but he grabbed her hair and pulled her ponytail holder out. She felt her hair gently fall down and brush against her neck.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Ananda walked to the crystal bell on the balcony. She rang it, and shouted, "AIDEN!"  
  
The bell pealed and let out a note so perfect that only Ananda and Aiden could hear it. Suddenly Aiden appeared behind her and wrapped her up in a hug.  
  
"Ananda! How're you doin?" Aiden gave her a grin.  
  
Ananda pushed him away, frowned, and said, "Kaonashi came. He thinks he can help Chihiro more."  
  
Aiden shrugged. "It's possible.she's already started to move and talk in both worlds. Her memory should return pretty soon. We should be ready.I mean, you should be ready."  
  
She nodded, and the two took off from the Music Room, heading for the great hall of the Temple.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Chihiro looked at what Kaonashi held out to her. Until then she had not really looked at her hair tie. She stared at it, wondering what Kaonashi meant. It glittered purple and Chihiro had the strange urge to touch it.  
  
Her hand reached forward and her thin fingers delicately brushed it.  
  
- - -  
  
Sakura and Syaoran burst into the room where Chihiro would be. Kohaku was sitting there, as usual. But something was different.  
  
"Kohaku?" Syaoran said.  
  
He looked up, and there was emotion in his glance. "She talked."  
  
Sakura said, "What? How?"  
  
"About thirty minutes ago Chihiro said.Kaonashi. But that was it. She hasn't said anything else."  
  
Syaoran looked thoughtful. "Kaonashi? Doesn't that mean no face?" (A/N: Kaonashi literally means No-Face, right?)  
  
Kohaku didn't have time to answer. At that moment, Chihiro's hand rose and her hand moved slightly, as if she was touching something.  
  
All three gasped, "Chihiro!"  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
All of a sudden, time seemed to have stopped. Chihiro felt the hairband and closed her hand around it, taking it. She looked up into Kaonashi's face.  
  
An unexpected wind suddenly blew right into Chihiro's face, and she closed her eyes. Chihiro opened her arms wide, and laughed. The gale whirled around her, tossing her loose hair and rumpling her clothes.  
  
Chihiro opened her eyes. Ananda and Aiden stood before her. Kaonashi was standing off to the side.  
  
"I remember!" She gasped. "I remember everything! All of it!"  
  
Ananda and Aiden were silent. Ananda had to wait until Chihiro asked.  
  
The smile on Chihiro's face died a little as she saw that neither Ananda nor Aiden made any move to congratulate her. She frowned. Something else was bugging her. Chihiro voiced her thought aloud. "But Gnimaerd isn't part of the Spirit World or the human world, is it?"  
  
Ananda smiled in relief. She stepped forward and held out her hand. "I have a door for you, Chihiro." With that Ananda took Chihiro towards where the stairway door usually was, but when she opened it Chihiro gasped. Instead of stairs, they were in a small room with another door in front of them. The only things in the room were a plaque leaning against the wall, and a mirror on the opposite wall.  
  
Chihiro looked at Ananda, who walked towards the plaque. Chihiro took a step forward, and the door behind her shut softly. The room had a soft glow whose source she couldn't find.  
  
"I am the Oracle." Ananda said. "When you first came, I told you that you would know where Gnimaerd is when you are ready to go back." she stopped. There was a silence while Chihiro remembered that conversation.  
  
Then Ananda held up the plaque, and she was standing right next to the mirror. Chihiro looked at it and saw that it said two things.  
  
uoyera  
  
gnimaerd  
  
Looking at it, Chihiro realized that that was how you spelled Uoyera. She never saw it, or Gnimaerd for that matter, written down. And why were there no capitals? Chihiro was about to voice that thought when she looked at the mirror and saw the reflection.  
  
uoyera are you  
  
gnimaerd dreaming  
  
"Chihiro." Ananda whispered, and then she said, in her head somehow, "are you dreaming?"  
  
Like it had the first time in the Temple, Chihiro felt an answer coming. She took a deep breath, and said, "No."  
  
Ananda smiled and said, "Why? How can you be sure? It is the name of the place, is it not?"  
  
"I just know.this isn't a dream. Although the last thing that happened before I came here was the accident.Kaonashi is real, and he got here, into Gnimaerd, somehow. So here must be real too.but maybe.you run it, don't you?" Chihiro asked.  
  
"I am the Oracle."  
  
Rolling her eyes, Chihiro said, "Yes, well maybe you're only letting certain people come here. I've seen the spirits who stand in line to see you."  
  
Ananda smiled again, and whispered, "Close enough. You pass the test. Chihiro, your spirit and others have come here, and only at my bidding. The element of time is against us now, and I do not have enough to explain Gnimaerd to you. But you are right, you are not dreaming."  
  
Chihiro grinned and closed her eyes. "Wait.so right now, I'm a spirit?"  
  
"No, you're your spirit."  
  
"So then.my body is somewhere else?"  
  
Wordlessly, Ananda gestured at the door. Chihiro approached it, and saw that it said 'I am the door to beyond, and I am the door to go within'. She reached out and grasped the handle.  
  
The door opened to a room that Chihiro recognized. It was the workers' room in Aburaya. She looked and saw a girl with tousled brown hair lying in a cot with a bandaged back and head. A young man with silky black hair and intense green eyes was shaking her, while a boy and a girl about her age watched. "Chihiro, Chihiro!" he said urgently.  
  
She turned around and faced Ananda. But Ananda wasn't there anymore. Chihiro blinked, and looked around the room. The mirror and plaque were gone, but a single necklace lay on the floor. Its pendant glowed like a deep red eye. Chihiro hesitated, and then moved forward to pick it up. As her hand grasped the stone, it gave a final burst of light and then went out.  
  
"Weird," she whispered. Chihiro slipped it over her head, and then faced the door once more. She took a deep breath, and stepped over the threshold, yelling, "Ko--"  
  
- - -  
  
"-HAKU!"  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Ananda turned from the door, smiling brightly as Aiden said goodbye to Kaonashi. "So he's not staying?" she asked.  
  
Aiden shrugged. "I guess not. Maybe he wants to go back to the Spirit World," he said as he turned around. Aiden turned in time to see Ananda falling towards the ground. "Ananda!" he yelled.  
  
In a trice he was at her side and caught her. Resting her head on his knee, Aiden lightly touched her forehead with his finger. Ananda stirred, and her eyes widened. There was an awkward pause. "Are you okay?"  
  
She brushed him off and stood up. "It has passed, Aiden."  
  
He watched her, worried. 'It will not be the last, I fear,' Aiden thought. Aloud, he said, "You shouldn't go. It tires you to pass into people's dreams. Rest at least one night, Ananda."  
  
Ananda shook her head. "No, I have to do it as soon as possible. We need to get them to your house.it's important."  
  
He sighed, and lightly touched her shoulder. "Take care then. I'll expect to see them soon."  
  
~ - ~ - ~  
  
hey everyone thanx agen for the reviews (especially the one with the little sis, I wanna giv u's a hug!); just press the little button and say hi! for me. ^________________^  
  
silent H 


	13. Clearing Things Up

Okay everybody! Sorry for the delay, but I was working out plot stuff, and well, it was SUMMER VACATION! So I did vacation stuff! But I feel guilty for posting so late. Anyway, I hope u don't find this chap borin cos I put a lot of discussion and thoughts in it, but I had 2 hav them all talk about what Chihiro was doing in her 'coma' thing. And stuff...okay then!  
  
Disclaimer: Do I really need to put this up? We all know I don't own CCS or Spirited Away by now, it's the eleventh chapter for baloney's sake!  
  
Oh yea, I changed the key thingamajig.  
  
"lalala" = speaking, 'lalala' = thought, */ lalala /* = flashback  
  
- - = scene change/in Spirit World, or Human World  
  
~ ~ ~ = Gnimaerd or Ananda or Aiden  
  
* * * = dreaming  
  
Chapter 11: Clearing Things Up  
  
"--HAKU!" Chihiro gasped, bolting upright and scaring the hell out of Sakura, Syaoran, and Kohaku. For a moment, everyone was speechless while Chihiro dazedly looked around her.  
  
Kohaku recovered first. "Chihiro! You're...um...back!" (A/N: Well they didn't think she was DEAD, did they? He couldn't say she was ALIVE). He lunged forward and toppled Chihiro over as he hugged her. Chihiro grinned and hugged him, unembarrassed about their current position.  
  
"Oh Haku," she said softly, using his old name. For a few moments they lay like that. Chihiro was surprised that she wasn't blushing, but at the moment felt the opposite---amazingly calm and collected. (Kohaku, on the other hand, was flushing furiously, but his head was buried in the pillow).  
  
After a minute Chihiro gently disengaged herself from Kohaku and sat up. She looked at Sakura and Syaoran (who had waited awkwardly for Chihiro and Kohaku to finish) and smiled. The two of them grinned back.  
  
Sakura rushed forward. "Thank god you're okay!" She gave the younger girl a big hug.  
  
Chihiro smiled and whispered, "Thank you." She looked towards Syaoran, who was still embarrassed and wasn't sure how to greet Chihiro. He had only just started to relax around her. She only smiled, feeling his awkwardness, and stood up. A silent understanding passed between them.  
  
"Good to have you back, Chihiro." He held out his hand and smiled hesitantly, and Chihiro shook it.  
  
She took a deep breath and looked at the three of them. "So... how long have I been away?"  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
It was night in Gnimaerd, but Ananda was far from sleeping. She had work to do.  
  
In order to enter people's dreams, there was a lot of preparation and it took a while to actually complete the working. It also tired her, but Ananda didn't want to waste time.  
  
She waited, a little impatient, at the foot of the great steps. Then, three odd looking spirits floated up to her out of nowhere. With a relieved sigh, Ananda stepped forward to greet them.  
  
"Do you have them?" she asked.  
  
Each spirit held up a palm, and in each hand glittered what looked like a grain of sand. Those little grains were very important. Ananda raised her hands and the little grains floated over to her. She held out a small bag and the grains deposited themselves inside of it, for safekeeping.  
  
"Thank you," she said to them, "and tell Aiden he's done a wonderful job on the new models." They silently nodded and disappeared. Ananda turned around and headed back inside the temple.  
  
She briskly walked up a countless number of stairs, down a few hallways, and through quite a few doors. (One of them wouldn't open, and she had to persuade it to oblige). She finally came to what looked like an observatory room, with a large telescope in the middle.  
  
Ananda walked over to another door and opened it to what looked like a closet full of vertical incense burners. She grabbed four of them and headed back to the observatory room.  
  
She snapped her fingers and the four burners and the three grains flew in front of her, with the burners on the ground and the grains above three of them. 'That's right,' Ananda thought, 'I need Chihiro's Essence.' She turned and went to yet another door in the room and looked around the room inside of it. It was filled with tiny labeled jars. She snapped again and a jar flew to her hands. "Chihiro's Essence" it said.  
  
Ananda went back into the room and let the grain float back to join the other three Essences. Checking that everything was in place, she sat down under the large telescope facing the burners.  
  
"Emalf," Ananda intoned. The four Essences; Sakura's, Syaoran's, Kohaku's, and Chihiro's; settled themselves on the burners and burst on fire. The only thing was, the white flames pointed down, but the silver tendrils of smoke floated upwards.  
  
Ananda closed her eyes and concentrated on the Essences, as well as her own (even a tiny bit of her Essence was large, and it was kept inside of the telescope thing). Everything was ready.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"HOEEE?" (A/N: Guess who that was).  
  
Chihiro blinked at the reaction to her question. "Um, I said: how long have I been away?" she said slowly, so that her friends could understand.  
  
"We heard you," Kohaku said, "but what do you mean by.away?" Syaoran and Sakura nodded in agreement.  
  
Chihiro grinned in understanding. "Oh, well, you see, my physical body remained here, but my......um, spirit, I guess...well it went to a weird place called Uoyera which was a city in a place called Gnimaerd. See, I lost my memory after that accident, and then I met this really weird girl who owned this temple and called herself the Oracle, and she helped to me to recover my memory. But it wasn't working until Kaonashi-he's a spirit from here-came and then I remembered everything, and then she let me come back home. And there was a door that I opened and I saw my body, and it felt really odd and then I was back here." She said this all very quickly.  
  
The other three stared blankly at Chihiro. She frowned slightly, and then said, "Oh yes, well I asked how long I was here because it felt like I was at the temple for ages and ages, and I didn't wasn't sure how long I was there for."  
  
There was a confused silence.  
  
Then Sakura said sheepishly, "Chihiro...I think we'll need a longer explanation of your, um, visit to...to..."  
  
"Gnimaerd." came the answer.  
  
Sakura grinned. "Right." Chihiro could tell that Haku and Syaoran wanted a full recount of her time there too.  
  
"Okay guys. But don't ask me any questions till I'm finished. What I first remembered was just sitting there, existion on this bench in this park. And I saw a really big temple......"  
  
(A/N: okay, passing time...)  
  
Chihiro gave them a detailed account of her time spent in the temple of Ananda. Most of the time, Sakura, Syaoran, and Kohaku listened with rapt attention. When Chihiro got to Ananda's name and appearance, the three of them started, but didn't say anything; only passing wary glances. Syaoran felt a weird feeling, almost like he'd heard the word Ananda before, but he pushed it to the back of his mind.  
  
The first person to speak when Chihiro was done was Kohaku. "So this girl helped you? Are you sure that was what she looked like?"  
  
"Yes. Why?"  
  
Syaoran said, "Because she was there the night that you got injured. She knew all of our names. That girl was the one who wanted to see us, when Rin came up. Remember?"  
  
Chihiro wrinkled her nose in thought. "Yes...well she IS the Oracle." There was a thoughtful silence. Kohaku thought, 'I suppose she must be on our side. But still.she seemed really powerful. I'll be wary around her..."  
  
Sakura asked, "Who was Aiden?"  
  
"I don't know. Ananda said he was a friend of hers. I didn't really see him, but it seemed like he knew all about me." Chihiro added as an afterthought, "He was very handsome. Looked about 17 or 18." She didn't notice Haku frowning behind her.  
  
"Right," Haku said, "So what did she say when you were in the room with the plaque?"  
  
Chihiro sighed. "She asked me if I was dreaming, because that was the name of the place we were in. It was asking me a question, really, the whole time, but I didn't see it. So I said no---"  
  
Sakura interrupted. "But I still don't get how you couldn't be dreaming when your body was here." "You said something about being a spirit." Syaoran said to Chihiro.  
  
"Yeah, I asked her if I was a spirit, and she said I was MY spirit. So I got kind of confused there..." Chihiro screwed up her face and thought about it. 'She said I was MY spirit...maybe I did come here...me, not my body. Because maybe I don't need my body to go there. Look at Haku."  
  
Kohaku thought aloud, "Maybe it was your spirit, then. But how did she come here, if in that world the people are spirits?"  
  
"Maybe," Sakura said excitedly, "it's another world! Like some alternate universe or something, and Chihiro went there because...because..."  
  
"Ananda brought her there?" Syaoran finished uncertainly.  
  
Chihiro spoke up, "I remember when I first got to the Temple of Ananda she told me that it was a place of renewal. So maybe she brought me there because I lost my memory!"  
  
"Okay," Haku said, "we've gotten that far. So what exactly is Gnimaerd? You know, Chihiro, Ananda never answered you question really. You never found out where it was. For all we know, Sakura could be right."  
  
- - -  
  
Everyone sat in silence, thinking. After discussing practically every aspect of Chihiro's story, the group felt it needed some time to ponder over everything so far. Chihiro and Sakura sat on the balcony, Syaoran lay on a mat in the corner and Kohaku sat on the floor (in one of those meditative positions).  
  
(A/N: Just thoughts now. Maybe they'll even stimulate questions on the plot in your heads!)  
  
'Why was Chihiro so important to Ananda? What does it all matter? Maybe it has something to do with all of the people disappearing. Why DID we not disappear? I wonder where everyone is right now. Ananda must be really powerful, Chihiro said something about asking her if she ran the place...maybe she does. And then she said she couldn't explain it to her then...I'll just have to ask Ananda if I see her. IF she comes here to the bathhouse...'  
  
'I wonder who Aiden is. He must be friendly too, if he was friends with Ananda. Why does she call herself the Oracle? Was Sakura right about Gnimaerd being another world? But the Spirit World doesn't know about any other worlds besides this. And if Ananda's supposed to be an oracle, how come she didn't know that Chihiro was going to get hurt? Or maybe she foresees greater things that are going to happen way in the future. And how did Kaonashi get inside the temple? Did Ananda know he was good?'  
  
'It's funny...I feel so at peace. Why didn't I tell them about that necklace? I can't believe it came with me from Gnimaerd. And what was with the glowing bit? It's stopped now. Did Kaonashi go back to Zeniba's house? I wonder what happened to him. What happened while I was getting my memory back...I'll have to ask Sakura later. Hmmm.that train I remember seeing looked a lot like the one I took before. But if Gnimaerd is really another world, then how did the train get there?'  
  
'I have a feeling that whole predestined thing is playing up here. Stupid destiny. Why else would recovering Chihiro's memory be so important? And then that spirit tried to attack us...or was it just sick? I'm not sure...and why did Cerberus and Yue disappear? Eriol must've then. But he's so powerful! Maybe they didn't disappear. Then where would they be? Oh man, Sakura's looking right at me!"  
  
- - -  
  
On the balcony, Chihiro turned to Sakura. "Hey, Sakura, what happened in Aburaya while I was at Gnimaerd?"  
  
Sakura smiled. "Quite a lot." She turned and looked at the two boys inside. "Well, Haku here just moped and moped for hours over you. Syaoran tried to get him to eat, but..."  
  
Chihiro listened while Sakura spoke. But then Sakura stopped, right when she was saying, "...And they said it was an Iris Spirit, and-"  
  
Chihiro, not noticing the pause, said, "Haha...an Iris Spirit...remember that email I sent you? The one with the flowers? An Iris tells of faith and hope..."  
  
Sakura blinked. Must have been one of those chain letters. She hated that stuff, but Chihiro loved them. 'Ah! ' Sakura thought, 'I can't tell Chihiro about my magic! I'll have to say something else...but what can I say to explain how I cured it? Maybe I should just tell her---'  
  
"Uh, Sakura? Are you okay?" Chihiro looked worriedly at the silent Sakura. She shook her head, thinking. "I'm all right..." she said vaguely. 'I think that something else happened in Aburaya. Something to do with Chihiro. Until I find out exactly what, I'll just keep my magic a secret. Besides, I don't know if Syaoran would want to bring that up with all of the stuff going on.'  
  
She turned back to Chihiro and related a quick story of how she and Syaoran took care of the customer, and then were called up to Yubaba. Then, coming on another rip in her story, Sakura retold the meeting with Yubaba, only very unclearly. She held up a hand to keep Chihiro from interrupting, and told the rest of what had happened, from bursting in on Kohaku to her waking up.  
  
When she was done, Chihiro squealed, "Granny! I can see granny agai---" Now it was her time to pause. "I mean, I thought that since Zeniba must be Yubaba's twin, then she looks like a granny too. And....yeah."  
  
Sakura raised an eyebrow and decided not to ask.  
  
Chihiro said, "So I guess that we should get going to Zeniba's as soon as possible then. I'm awake now."  
  
Sakura nodded and stood up. She walked inside the room and told the guys. Chihiro looked through the glass panes and saw them nodding. She turned and looked up at the moon starting to set. 'We better get ready to sleep,' she thought, 'the workers will be up soon.'  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Aiden too, was waiting, back in his library. It was the problem with the time differences between Gnimaerd and the regular universe (where he kept his House) that took so long. He was less patient too.  
  
His ears perked up. A single spirit-servant of his was approaching. It was one of his newer models, too.  
  
"The Oracle sends her thanks, and says that the new models are wonderful." It paused. "And what you asked for."  
  
Aiden smiled. "Thanks." It was just what he needed.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Sakura was sleeping in her cot. Around her were the other workers, and Chihiro. Somewhere else in Aburaya, Haku was sleeping in his bed, while Syaoran dozed on a couch in Haku's suite.  
  
In her sleep, Sakura tossed and turned. Her arms waved about, and then she sat up. But she was still sleeping.  
  
* * *  
  
'Oh, I'm back at the Tsukimine shrine!' Sakura thought as she looked around herself.  
  
She was indeed back at the shrine, under a cherry blossom tree. In front of her, a large throng milled about various crowded booths and stands. The tents were striped and plain, floral and polka dotted. The crowd chattered and talked, none of them noticing Sakura. There were stands for food, games, and most of them were little shops. Tons of trinkets, clothes, mirrors, jewelry, books or boxes were on display in front of the booths.  
  
Sakura grinned. "There must be a fair, or a bazaar here," she said aloud. Sakura walked forward, eager to eat something. She reached into her pocket, disappointed to find it empty. So Sakura just ambled about, getting jostled by people and little kids.  
  
"Excuse me, miss." A voice said suddenly on her right.  
  
Sakura turned around and looked into the nearest booth. This one had jewelry, mostly necklaces, on display. She eagerly looked at the pretty bangles and jewels. Then she glanced up, and saw herself looking at a young man. He seemed older than her, but she couldn't really tell because his face was partly in shadow. But she did see a pair of glowing green eyes.  
  
"My, my, you're a pretty one," he said, "Ordinary jewelry won't work for you."  
  
Sakura blushed and mumbled, "Well I don't have any money with me."  
  
He smiled and said, "Then it'll be on me."  
  
She watched as he pulled something out of his pocket. But before she could reach out and take it Sakura felt someone tugging at her.  
  
She turned around and  
  
* * *  
  
found herself facing Syaoran. Behind him was the bathhouse.  
  
"HOE?" she said. Sakura shook her head and looked around. She was at the end of the red-railed bridge in front of Aburaya. "I must have been sleepwalking," she said.  
  
Syaoran didn't say anything. He was blushing too much. Sakura found that she was blushing too. 'Why am I blushing?' she thought.  
  
Sakura turned away and asked, "Uh...how did we get here?"  
  
"I heard you walk by my room. I couldn't sleep." Syaoran said gruffly.  
  
"Oh."  
  
Suddenly he said, "It isn't like you to sleepwalk. What were you dreaming about? Do you think it was a premonition?"  
  
She sighed, grateful for something to say. "Well...I .....um....I don't remember?" Sakura frowned to herself, wondering why she didn't want to tell Syaoran.  
  
He sweatdropped and muttered, "Just be careful, Sakura."  
  
Sakura grinned and hugged Syaoran. "Thanks for worrying about me."  
  
This made him blush even more, and he jerked back slightly. Syaoran found himself looking straight into Sakura's eyes, and felt like he couldn't move. They stood for what seemed like an eternity. Then Sakura felt herself leaning forward, and she thought, 'Hoe? What am I doing????' Syaoran's eyes widened and he leaned over to meet her lips.  
  
All of a sudden a shadow passed overhead, and something overhead shrieked. "AHHHH!" the two figures on the bridge shouted, breaking apart hastily. Flying above Syaoran and Sakura was what looked like a giant bird with Yubaba's head.  
  
"What the hell was that?" Syaoran gasped.  
  
Sakura said shakily, "I have no idea. Um....we should be getting back now. It's still late." She turned, reluctantly, towards the entrance. Syaoran followed, rather jerkily. 'I was so close.' he thought.  
  
~ - ~ - ~  
  
Oh I be u hate my for not letting S + S kiss! Ohohohohoo lol ^.^ I'm so evil.  
  
hey, just sayin my thanx from all of the reviews, they really kept my motivation goin, thankees!  
  
silent H 


	14. A Train Ride

Aite yo, I'm back with the next chapter just in time for school starting. Doesn't that suck? ::stomps her feet and throws a tantrum:: Ahem. I do NOT want to go back to school.  
  
Anyway, I answered what the heck was with Sakura's dream in this chappie, so there ya go. And if you're still confused with some things after this.well you do have the right. But I have dropped a bunch of clues you know. Okay, I wont detain you any longer, here is chapter 12!!!  
  
Disclaimer: Wait! Here's the disclaimer, and then you can read the next chapter. Guess what I don't own.  
  
"lalala" = speaking, 'lalala' = thought, */ lalala /* = flashback  
  
- - - = scene change/in Spirit World, or Human World  
  
~ ~ ~ = Gnimaerd or Ananda or Aiden  
  
* * * = dreaming  
  
Chapter 12: A Train Ride  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Ananda opened her eyes and looked around. The tendrils of smoke had formed squiggles and curlicues on the ceiling above her. She read them for her directions, pausing occasionally to make sure the flames were still burning.  
  
There were no complications in the information, so she could enter their dreams on any of the nights in the Spirit World that all four of them were asleep. 'Oh bother...' she muttered, 'It's night there already. I'll have to wait for the next night in the Spirit World.'  
  
As she talked to herself, some of the squiggles and lines moved around a bit. 'Damn.that next night's taken too.I wonder if.' Ananda looked closely at the changed around part of the smoke. 'What's he doing?' she thought, 'Well...maybe I'll leave him be. I'll just do it on the third night then.'  
  
It was settled.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Chihiro opened her eyes to daylight. 'Aren't we supposed to wake up at night?' she thought sleepily. Someone to her left dimly whispered, "Chihiro?"  
  
She sat up. "Sakura? Why are we up so early? It's still daylight."  
  
Sakura was sitting next to her, in her pajamas. Behind her at the door were Syaoran and Kohaku. And around them were sleeping Yuna. Sakura held a finger to her lips and motioned her to stand up and go to the door.  
  
Chihiro nodded and tiptoed with Sakura over to the doorway. Once they were outside she asked, "What's up?"  
  
Haku replied, "Yubaba called me in and she told me to, ahem, 'get going to my evil twin's house.'"  
  
She chuckled. "So how are we going?" "Actually, Yubaba didn't tell Haku how we're going." Syaoran spoke up. Sakura frowned thoughtfully.  
  
Chihiro said, "Hey...why don't we ask Kamajii for tickets for the train?"  
  
"Good idea!" Sakura said, grinning.  
  
"Okay then. Let's hurry." Kohaku replied.  
  
The four of them took off down the corridor. On the way Chihiro said to Sakura, "I had the weirdest dream last night!"  
  
Sakura's eyes widened. Dreams could be important. She thought of her own dream last night. "...What was it about?" she asked hesitantly.  
  
Chihiro grinned. "Well, it started off with me wearing a funky orange and purple kimono, and your friend Tomoyo was saying something about doing my hair different. But then I didn't want to take it out and Syaoran got angry and took out this big sword and cut my hair off! Then Haku jumped out of the floor in his dragon form and asked us what ice cream was, because the Ice Cream spirit came to Aburaya and wanted a hot fudge sundae bath. And then..." she babbled on as they walked down the hallways.  
  
Sakura sweatdropped. Of course, you could still have pointless dreams too.  
  
- - -  
  
"I'm sorry, my children, but I don't have any train tickets left."  
  
Chihiro frowned, disappointed. She'd thought that since Kamajii had been able to give her four tickets last time, he would have saved up some more. But then again, tickets must be rare or Rin would have left already. Chihiro knew how much Rin wanted to bust out of Aburaya.  
  
Kamajii said, "Why are you taking the train anyway?"  
  
"We're going to go to Zeniba's house to ask her about what's been happening lately in the Spirit World. Maybe she knows some things we don't." Haku replied.  
  
"Ah!" Kamajii murmured, "This is getting interesting. But I'm sorry. I have no tickets left. I spent them all on a precious young girl a long time ago."  
  
"Eh?" Syaoran said to himself. "What's he talking about?"  
  
Sakura asked, "Then how will we get there?" To herself she thought, 'Maybe I could use the cards to get us there...but I don't want to bring that up just yet. There should be another way.'  
  
Chihiro said, "Maybe we can just persuade the driver that it's urgent for us. He should know that the spirits are in danger too and that we can help him."  
  
"I'm not so sure," Kohaku said, "what if he doesn't let us on?"  
  
"Don't worry Kohaku," Sakura said, "He should let us on anyway. We'll wing it."  
  
Kamajii nodded quietly and said, "Good luck then." The spirit watched as the four young adults headed for the door. He stretched out a hand and patted Chihiro on the back. She turned around and came back.  
  
"Thanks anyway Kamajii," she said smiling.  
  
"I have a feeling that I won't be seeing you for a while," he said.  
  
Chihiro asked, "What do you mean?"  
  
Kamajii sighed and replied, "I think you'll have more things to do after your visit to Zeniba. You might not come back." He held up a hand as Chihiro opened her mouth. "Just remember to trust you heart."  
  
Chihiro smiled, and all of a sudden felt the stone on her necklace (hiding under her shirt) grow warm. "Thanks Kamajii. Goodbye!" she called as she ran towards the door. The Susuwatari looked sad to see her go.  
  
As she opened the door Chihiro peeked under her shirt to see the necklace. For a moment she thought it was glowing, but Chihiro shook her head and it was gone. Once outside, she saw why the others hadn't come in to see what was taking her.  
  
"Chihiro! There you are." Rin called. "I heard about you guys leaving and I came to say goodbye. And to give you a ride to the station." She smiled.  
  
Chihiro protested, "But Rin! Aren't you sick? You shouldn't be outside if you are, it might make you sicker!"  
  
Sakura said, "That's what we tried to tell her."  
  
"I'll be fine," she said, "it's only a little trip." Rin coughed slightly.  
  
"Oh...if you're sure then. Thanks Rin!" Chihiro gave the older girl a big hug. She still regretted it, but maybe it would make her feel better.  
  
"Any time, kiddo."  
  
- - -  
  
Rin took them to the train station in the same little wooden boat thing. The water never did go away, so Aburaya always looked like it floated on the sea from the balconies. Everyone was silent (except for the occasional cough) as they were brought to the train tracks. All four of them took off their shoes and stepped onto the flooded tracks.  
  
Rin said, "Now take care of yourselves! Kamajii was saying stuff about you not coming back so I'm telling you guys to make sure you do."  
  
"Don't worry Rin," Chihiro said, "We will come back. I promise. And take care of yourself while we're gone!"  
  
Sakura called as they started to walk, "Thank you Rin!" Syaoran and Kohaku followed suit. Rin waved goodbye and started to row back home.  
  
The four walked in single file along the train tracks until the station came into sight. Kohaku said, "You guys know what we're going to tell the conductor."  
  
Everyone nodded.  
  
Once they got there, it wasn't long until the train came. In fact...  
  
"That was quick!" Syaoran muttered.  
  
Chihiro agreed, "Yeah..."  
  
They all jumped slightly as the door slid open with a clang. Chihiro started to clear her throat to talk to the conductor. And they waited for him to come out and ask for the tickets. And waited. And waited some more.  
  
Sakura asked, "Is it supposed to take this long? Someone go check inside."  
  
Haku stepped on the first step and peered in. "Hello? Anyone there?" He decided to risk it and went inside. Haku walked to the door where the conductor was supposed to be. He hesitated, and then flung out his hand, making the door open.  
  
"Haku? Is he in there?" came Chihiro's voice.  
  
He took one more look around, and then replied, "No. There's no one in here."  
  
- - -  
  
"I guess it still works then." Syaoran said to no one in particular. They had decided to sit and wait inside the train to see what happened. After a few moments, the train had started moving again. Much to their surprise.  
  
Everyone was quiet, thinking for a while. Then Sakura said, "You know, we've really forgotten about going home. We've been so caught up in what's going on.I haven't even thought of Tomoyo or Dad or Touya."  
  
Chihiro nodded. "But it must have something to do with them. I mean, what's happening here must have to do with all the disappearances."  
  
"Once we figure out why all of this stuff has been happening, we should probably be able to fix everything and go back home." Syaoran said.  
  
Then Kohaku said darkly, "But what if it takes too long to figure out? Or we don't find the answer at all?" That received worried looks from Sakura and Chihiro, and a glare from Syaoran.  
  
Sakura burst out, "Oh, I'd do anything to see Dad and Touya again."  
  
"No Sakura," Chihiro said gently, "You'd do almost anything."  
  
- - -  
  
Eventually everyone fell asleep, except for Chihiro. Haku was next to her, with his eyes closed, so she suspected he must be asleep. Sakura was sleeping with her head on Syaoran's shoulder.  
  
Chihiro smiled at the sight of them. 'Syaoran really does like Sakura a lot. But Sakura's a little too slow to figure that out. She must like him back though...' She looked at the two of them for a few more moments, and then started to think of Granny. 'I can't wait to see her. I wish I knew if Kaonashi would be there. I hope he is...I never got to thank him.' Chihiro was so busy thinking that she didn't notice Sakura stirring in front of her.  
  
Sakura mumbled something, and then suddenly stood up. Chihiro looked up from her thoughts, startled. Sakura's eyes were open but glassy. "Sakura...?"  
  
She looked around herself for a moment, and then started to walk towards the next cabin. Chihiro thought, 'Aren't you not supposed to wake sleepwalkers up?' She frowned, and then had to rush to the door as Sakura approached it. She got there in time and threw it open so she could walk in.  
  
"What in the world are you dreaming about, Sakura?" Chihiro muttered as she followed her.  
  
* * *  
  
Sakura was back at the shrine. Only this time it was empty. It reminded her of the deserted streets in the Western movies. She half expected to see a tumbleweed dance by.  
  
She blinked. There was someone sitting on the steps far away from her. Sakura walked up to the person, since there appeared to be nothing else to do. The walk seemed much longer than it looked, and Sakura started to get creeped out. It was like those never-ending hallways you have in nightmares. 'Shouldn't I be there already?' she thought.  
  
All of a sudden she was there and the person was sitting in front of her. Then she realized that it was a guy.  
  
"Uh...hi." Sakura said to him.  
  
The young man turned around and looked at her. She was struck by how handsome he was, and then she recognized him.  
  
"You're the guy at the jewelry booth! So this is a dream too."  
  
He smiled, showing off even teeth. "Yeah, that's me. And this is a dream."  
  
Sakura said, "This is one of the weirdest dreams I've ever had. No one ever tells you you're dreaming in a dream. Of course sometimes I have premonitions.are you sure this isn't a premonition?" She sat down beside him.  
  
The man said, "It is a dream. I'm pretty sure. Don't get your lovely little head in a mess over it."  
  
Sakura blushed again. "Oh yeah...didn't you want to give me something?"  
  
"It can wait, you're still asleep. I wanted to ask you something first. How is Chihiro doing?"  
  
"HOE??" Sakura shouted. "How do.what.how do you know who Chihiro is if you're just some figment in my dream?"  
  
He laughed. "Well, just answer my question. I'll tell you who I am, though I'll give you bonus points if you can guess."  
  
Sakura frowned slightly. The young man didn't seem dangerous. He was kind of.relaxed and humorous. 'Not to mention cute.but he looks at least seventeen.' The thought 'seventeen' sparked a thought in Sakura's memory.  
  
*/"Who was Aiden?"  
  
"I don't know. Ananda said he was a friend of hers. I didn't really see him, but it seemed like he knew all about me." Chihiro added as an afterthought, "He was very handsome. Looked about 17 or 18."/*  
  
"Hey you're Aiden, aren't you? So how is this a dream if you're real?"  
  
"Oh! Score!" Aiden said grinning. "I am Aiden. And I'm not.bound.by the same rules as you. You could say I'm.messing with you dream, per say."  
  
"Oh." Sakura said thoughtfully. "Well then, Chihiro is doing just fine. She remembers everything and told us about Ananda and Gnimaerd and stuff. But we have so many questions to ask!"  
  
Aiden chuckled. "Yes, well, I'm glad she's doing okay. As for your questions..."  
  
Sakura burst out, "Do you know about all of the humans disappearing? Why is Chihiro so important to you and Ananda? Does it have to do with the sicknesses and the disappearing? Are you Ananda's brother? How powerful are you two? What does Ananda do in Gnimaerd? Do you live there? Will I get to meet her too?"  
  
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Aiden said, raising his eyebrows. "I can't exactly explain everything right now. Don't worry; the answers will come, hopefully soon. We'll all see each other soon enough."  
  
Sakura opened her mouth to speak but Aiden put his finger on her lips. "Shhh. I've got my orders from Up There to do down here." He pointed at the sky.  
  
She frowned and said, "Up There? Orders?"  
  
"I don't even know the why He wants me to do this. Anyway, he's got his eye on you four." Aiden said. Then, reaching into his pocket he said simply, "For you."  
  
Sakura looked at his hand and stared at the necklace. It was pretty plain and simple, with a single glowing stone as its pendant. The stone looked like an amethyst. She reached out and wrapped her hand around the stone, and it stopped glowing. "Eh?" she murmured.  
  
"See you later," Aiden said.  
  
* * *  
  
Sakura blinked.  
  
Chihiro put her hand on Sakura's shoulder. "I didn't know you sleepwalked!" she exclaimed.  
  
Sakura turned around, slowly. She could feel something in her hand.  
  
"What's that in your hand?" Chihiro asked, pointing at a necklace clutched in Sakura's hand. Sakura opened her palm and looked down.  
  
She murmured, "The necklace!" What was it doing in her hand? It had only been a dream.hadn't it?  
  
Chihiro gave a small gasp and reached under her shirt. Sakura looked curiously as Chihiro pulled out a pendant with a ruby stone that looked exactly like hers. Sakura held up her necklace and both gave off a small glow and then stopped; both back to being ordinary looking necklaces again.  
  
"What was that about?" Chihiro whispered.  
  
Sakura answered, "I don't know. But where did you get that necklace?"  
  
Chihiro blushed. "Well.there's something I left out when I told you how I got back to Gnimaerd. I saw this necklace on the floor before I came back. Everything in the room disappeared and then I saw it glowing. So I picked it up and it stopped. Then I came back. Where did that come from?" Chihiro pointed at Sakura's pale purple pendant.  
  
Sakura took a breath, and told Chihiro about the first dream, and then she told her about the second dream, and all that Aiden had to say to her and how he finally gave her the pendant.  
  
"We should tell the boys, shouldn't we?" Sakura asked.  
  
Chihiro was silent for a moment. "Well.maybe when we get to Zeniba's house. She'll probably know what's up with these as well."  
  
"All right then." Sakura yawned. "Boy I'm tired. Let's hope we can get peaceful dreams the rest of the night."  
  
The two girls walked back through the cabin to get to the one where the boys were, and had uneventful but calm dreams the rest of the way back.  
  
~ - ~ - ~  
  
thankees to all of my loverly reviewers!!!!! Cookies all around yo. In the next chapter, we get to see Zeniba! Yay!  
  
And please leave a review after the beep. Thank you and have a nice day.  
  
BEEEEEEEEEEEP.  
  
silent H ^.^ 


	15. Ananda's Visit

Hey everyone, this is me again, with the next chapter! Yay! (well what else would I be here with?) So anyway, a million sorry's for not updating sooner, but man, 9th grade is killing me with all of this homework. :I. And the plot's been getting complicated (well at least for me) and I had to keep checking other chapters and blah blah blah. Oh btw I dropped a bombshell of a clue in here among others. but if you think you know whats goin on, try not to be excessive with it in your review (and you may feel free to review ^.^) cos people can read them and I don't want to spoil it for others. la la la thank you so much for the reviews, especially Kawaii Kitty-Chan for telling me how to make the italics n stuff work! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Now this works, hehe.

Oh yeah, if any of you guys like Rurouni Kenshin and are in LOVE with Soujiro like I am, please read my Soujiro fanfic! It's called, Remember Me, and I'm really sad cos I haven't gotten many reviews for it =( so I'd really appreciate it!

Disclaimer: Please refer to chapter 12.

*/ lalala /* = flashback

'lalala'-thinking

* * * _with italics_- Dreaming

~ ~ ~ - in Gnimaerd (either Ananda or Aiden)

"lalala"-out loud

Chapter 13: Ananda's Visit 

Kohaku gently shook Chihiro's shoulders. "Wake up, Chihiro," he said softly. She opened her eyes. It was still dark out, but the train had stopped. 

Chihiro stood up and said, "Are we here?"

"Yes." Kohaku walked over to Syaoran's snoring figure and started to wake him up. Chihiro followed suit and did the same to Sakura.

Once they were all outside, Kohaku started to walk. Chihiro was behind him, and then Syaoran holding Sakura's hand (because she was a little scared; it was very dark out). 

The woods were cool and shadowy. Their footsteps seemed deafening in the oppressive silence. A small sliver of moon hung in the sky, shedding faint light on the dirt path. The atmosphere didn't encourage conversation.

Chihiro suddenly heard something. It sounded like a bunny jumping around, only as if its legs were rusty and making squeaking sounds. Then she remembered. 'It's that weird lamp thing! It'll give us some light in these creepy woods.' She turned around and told Sakura and Syaoran, "A guide is coming."

"A guide?" Syaoran asked. He and Sakura exchanged wary looks. Then he noticed a light that was…bouncing its way towards them. Haku had stopped walking. Sakura gave a small gasp as the light came into full view. It was a lantern attached to the top of a long arm with a hand on the bottom. He glanced at Sakura again, expecting her to be scared, but she was only grinning. Syaoran followed her gaze.

The lantern was bowing to Haku, and then to Chihiro. Both of them bowed back. Then it (almost expectantly) stood still. Sakura and Syaoran took the hint and returned the bows. "It reminds me of the lamp that Pixar made. The one with the ball." Sakura whispered to Syaoran. He 'oh'd' in recognition.

It jumped around and then started off. Every so often it would stop and stand on a tree root. When they caught up the lantern would start hopping off again. Even with its small pool of light, the dark swamp seemed much easier to bear.

The lantern led them up to what looked like a fairytale house, complete with gingerbread style molding, a fence, and a thatched roof. It jumped up and attached itself to an arch connected to the fence.

They all hesitated at the gate. Syaoran looked at the lantern, innocently swinging above their heads. He tried to sense some magic, but didn't feel any in it. 'That's a nice little trick,' he thought. 

"Come on," Kohaku said. They all walked to the green wooden door. He made a move to knock, but the door swung open of its own accord. 

"Come in," came a voice that sounded exactly like Yubaba's. Sakura was reminded of the story about the gingerbread house and the witch inside. They all walked in.

- - -

Zeniba really did look like Yubaba. 'Of course, she said it was her twin sister,' Syaoran thought. 'On the other hand, she has somewhat better taste.'

Sakura and Syaoran looked around the homey cottage; at the blazing fireplace, the wooden floors and walls, the little house on the prarie-esque accessories, and most of all, the Yubaba look alike in the pink apron.

Zeniba had been cooking something on the stove and turned around as they entered. "Well it's about time. I've been waiting for you." She gave them all a smile, one that rested on Chihiro's face a little longer than anyone else's. "Now before we get talking, you can call me Granny." Sakura and Syaoran exchanged looks. Granny?

She continued, "Now if I could have your names?" Zeniba made a gesture towards Syaoran and Sakura. They looked hesitant to disclose their names (probably thinking of Yubaba) but Chihiro gave them a nod.

"I'm Sakura."

"Syaoran."

Zeniba nodded to herself. "All right then. Does anyone want a pot of tea?"

Kohaku looked faintly annoyed. "Zeniba, I think we should talk first. It's very important. Yubaba sent us here."

She only chuckled. "I know. But I think that you all could do with some food before we get down to the serious stuff. And when will I get you to call me Granny?" Zeniba gave Haku a grin. He didn't say anything.

"Um…Granny," Sakura said, "May we eat? I _am_ a little hungry."

Zeniba nodded. "Of course! The food is right behind you, on the table. I'll be ready with the tea in a moment." She bustled over to the kettle on the stove, leaving the four of them to awkwardly get seats.

Chihiro remarked, "You knew we were coming, didn't you?"

Zeniba waited till she had the pot on the table before answering. "Of course I did." And she left it at that.

Haku said as she sat down, "Well you probably know what we're here to talk to you for."

She replied again, "Of course. Would you like some cake?" She directed the last statement at Syaoran, who had been eyeing some of the shortcake. He jumped slightly, and then nodded. Zeniba continued to Haku, "So you want to know what's going on with all of the sicknesses? Where did all the people go? Kaonashi? Gnimaerd?"

At the last few suggestions, the four of them raised an eyebrow. Who knew that Zeniba knew about Gnimaerd?

She continued, "Well I'm sorry to say, but I don't know much about anything. Not much more than my sister, at least."

Syaoran said, "But you know about Gnimaerd. How much do you know?"

"Hmmm…first of all, some of you may not know it, but Kaonashi was with me before he departed to Gnimaerd."

Chihiro said, "Granny, how much do you know about Gnimaerd?"

Sakura added, "Yeah! We have so many questions…"

Zeniba held up her hands. "I'm sorry, but all I know was that Kaonashi originally came from there. You see, I learned from him while he helped me out. He was, how do you say…employed, in a sense. And at one point he just up and left. Kaonashi told me he was going to a place called Gnimaerd. He said someone told him that he was needed."

"Who told him? And how did he tell you? I thought Kaonashi couldn't really communicate." Kohaku said.

She answered vaguely, "We devised a system. And I don't know who told him. He didn't say."

Chihiro thought for a while. Even with the calm she seemed to have acquired, there was still so much she didn't understand. Chihiro could tell from the look on Sakura's face that she was just as confused. Haku was impassive and Syaoran was munching on some cake.

Sakura sipped some tea. She wondered if they should bring up the necklaces. It was obvious that they weren't going to get much out of Zeniba. "Well, let's go over what we know so far about the sicknesses and the humans." Sakura suggested.

Kohaku said aloud, "Alright. So at 12:00, all of the humans disappear, except for Chihiro, Sakura and Syaoran. Basically that's all we know about that."

"Then," Syaoran continued, "there are two kinds of sicknesses going around. For the people in the Bathhouse, it's like a flu."

"But even that is very serious." Chihiro interrupted. 

He kept going. "So there's another one that's turning spirits into demon-ish things. Like the Iris Spirit we saw. And Yubaba said that it was caused by an imbalance between the two worlds, or something like that."

"Only we don't know what caused the imbalance." Sakura said. "And are the things connected? Yubaba said they were or something."

Chihiro added, "And all that stuff about the times going wack. And the water in the Spirit World getting dirty and then in the human world, the holes in the ozone layer and etcetera."

Zeniba listened thoughtfully. "Sorry to say, but that's about all that I know. But they might all be connected."

"Do you think," Chihiro said, "that Ananda knows? If they're all connected?"

Kohaku said, "She sounds important. And if Ananda is as wise as it seems, she probably knows why everything happened."

"So could Aiden." Syaoran added.

 Sakura asked, "Whatever happened to her? Remember how she said she was going to come back?" 

"Maybe she will." Syaoran said. 

"Could someone please tell me," Zeniba interrupted, "Who Ananda is?" There was an odd expression on her face, almost if she remembered something. "Is that really her name?"

Chihiro thought it was an odd question to ask. It was just an ordinary name, on a not so ordinary…well…Chihiro wasn't sure if Ananda was a spirit or not. She related what had happened to her to Zeniba, who listened attentively while Sakura, Syaoran, and Haku ate.

By the time she finished, it was light out. They all sat in silence. Sakura was in a half doze, Chihiro drank tea, and Haku and Syaoran were thinking.

"That is," Zeniba said suddenly, "A very interesting story." She stood up and yawned. "I'm going to tuck in and think about all of this. Even though you probably slept on the train, you all should get some sleep. Don't think too much." Zeniba waved a hand and some beds appeared; two at one end of the room, and two at the other. They were obviously girl sides and boy sides.

And then Zeniba was gone through a door that Chihiro hadn't noticed before. 'I guess that's where she sleeps,' Chihiro thought.

The four of them went to their sides and got into the bed. Nobody really cared at this point about changing; they were all lost in thought. Chihiro was thinking about her parents and everyone else, Sakura thought about Ananda and Aiden, and Kohaku wondered if Zeniba was telling all she knew. But Syaoran was thinking of something totally different.

Syaoran had the weirdest feeling that he had heard the name Ananda before. Or at least, Ananda as a word. Before he had even met Sakura, even. 'What is it? It's right there…I can almost reach it,' he thought with annoyance. There was something hovering beyond his memory…

Suddenly he found himself thinking of his training, back when he had been very young. His master had taught him a lot—more than just fighting. He had even learned about different religions and things. 'Like Sanskrit.' Syaoran thought. Now that was a random thought.

And eventually everyone managed to fall asleep, even with full minds.

* * *

_"Sakura? Syaoran? Haku?" Chihiro said incredulously. They were all looking at her with the same confusion. "But…I was just dreaming about…" she frowned. _

_Sakura said, "Maybe…we're still dreaming."_

_"Wait a minute," Syaoran said, "How can we all be dreaming about being in the same place with each other? It's too weird."_

_Haku said, "Then we'll see when we wake up. If only one of us remembers it, then it was a dream. If we all remember it, then…"_

_"It's just like in books!" Sakura grinned. "They always do that kind of thing."_

_"But is it possible for us all to be dreaming the same thing at the same time?" Chihiro asked._

_"I guess it's a kind of…group dream then." Haku said._

_They all looked at their surroundings. It was a flat, featureless plane. There was a long sort of grass growing, and the sky above was pale blue. They were all in the clothes they had been wearing. Oddly enough, there was no sun in the sky, but it was still bright. And though no wind blew, the grass rippled slightly. _

_Syaoran said, "So where are we?"_

_"You're nowhere and anywhere."_

_Chihiro recognized that voice. "Ananda!" she cried out and turned around. And there she was. Only Ananda seemed…different. Chihiro ran to her to embrace her. But as Chihiro approached, Ananda took a step back and gave her a cool frown. She dropped her arms, momentarily confused._

_The other three looked eagerly at Ananda. They had only seen her once, and from what they'd heard from Chihiro, they were very excited to see her. (Of course, Kohaku stayed expressionless)._

_"It's very nice to meet you again, Ananda." Sakura said, "And thank you for what you've done for Chihiro."_

_Ananda had guessed that Chihiro would've told them what happened. It was only natural. Anyway, she had business to attend to._

_But before she could continue, Syaoran said, "We have a lot of questions to ask you. Like---"  _

_"Hold on." Ananda said in a slightly annoyed tone. "I'm here to give you instructions, not answers. You have to go to Aiden's House."_

_Haku said, "Well where is that?"_

_She replied dryly, "I was getting to that." She continued, "Aiden likes to live in the Spirit World, so there's not much of a problem there. But I can't tell you where it is. You three have to find it for yourselves."_

_Chihiro thought of what Ananda had told her when she first arrived in Gnimaerd. _

*/ _"Well done Chihiro!" she cried._

_Chihiro was confused. "What did I do?"_

_"You've passed your first test!"_

_"First test?"_/*

_"Maybe this will be a test too…" she murmured to herself. Chihiro looked back up at Ananda. There was definitely something different about her. And why hadn't she hugged her back? Was Ananda angry?_

_Ananda said, "You will find it, don't worry. You just have to figure out how. It isn't that hard, once you think."_

_"Couldn't you just tell us?" Syaoran burst out. "I'm a little tired of this kind of thing."_

_Ananda raised an eyebrow. Sakura said, "What are you talking about?"_

_"I mean, this is just really beating around the bush. You want our help. You want us to go to Aiden's House. So just tell us where it is already. You probably know a ton of things, and I'm getting tired of tests and destiny and weird magicians like Cl--"_

_Here Syaoran stopped, because he almost let it slip about Clow Reed. And also because Ananda was staring at him with an incredibly annoyed look on her face. She started to say something and stepped forward, when Chihiro, desperate to get Ananda's attention away from Syaoran, blurted, "Ananda, Sakura and I want to know about the necklaces you and Aiden gave us."_

_Sakura blinked. Ananda turned to Chihiro, looking confused for once. "I don't know what you're talking about." _

_Chihiro reached into her shirt, and there it was, the necklace. Syaoran and Haku stared blankly. "I got this just before I returned to my body in the room with the plaque on it. And Sakura," Chihiro gestured at her, who had just taken out her necklace, "had a dream where Aiden gave her that."_

_Ananda frowned and thought for a moment. "When did you have this dream?" she asked Sakura._

_Sakura said, "The night before this."_

_Ananda thought, 'So that's what he was doing. But what are the necklaces for?' Aloud, she asked, "May I see them?"_

_Sakura and Chihiro held out their necklaces. Ananda held one in each hand and carefully inspected them while murmuring something unfamiliar. Chihiro noticed something odd. When Ananda was holding them, both of the pendants seemed to get darker in color. Or maybe it was just whatever she was muttering. Or maybe not._

_Ananda was frustrated. 'Why can't won't it work? It's like there's a bind on them…or that I just can't overwork the necklaces. But Aiden can't create something like that…only He could…'_

_She gave them back, looking angry again. "I have to go." Ananda said shortly. And then she snapped her fingers and without warning, the dream ended._

_* * *_

Chihiro sat up with a jolt. 'I remember the dream.' Chihiro thought. She grabbed her necklace and stared at the pendant. "What are you for?" she whispered. Chihiro looked across the room at Haku and Syaoran. 'I guess I have to wait till morning to see if it was just a dream.' But Chihiro had the feeling that it wasn't.

~ ~ ~

Aiden sat in his library again, reading. He casually flipped the pages of an ancient looking book, but his mind was somewhere else. He was thinking about the necklaces, and what they might possibly have to do with Ananda. That was what He had told him to do, and that they would help her. But Aiden was in the dark, as he usually was with His orders.

Suddenly a shrill voice interrupted his thoughts and Aiden fell off his chair. "AIDEN!" he heard Ananda yell.

'She sounds angry,' he thought darkly, 'And that is not good.' In a flash, she was beside him. Aiden couldn't help grinning. Ananda looked so out of place when she was angry. Of course, she wasn't supposed to be angry, ever.

"And what do you want?" he said.

She frowned. "You know very well what I'm here about. What were those necklaces you gave Chihiro and Sakura?"

Aiden's eyes widened. Oh bother, they must have told Ananda in the hopes that she could answer some more questions. 'Really, these humans have to deal with being in the dark a bit…especially that one,' he thought. Aiden said, "I don't know. Why, don't you?"

Ananda scowled. "I should have been able to work on them, but either they were protected or specially made." She gave him an appraising look. "And you know what I mean by specially made."

He replied, "I can't say I do know." Aiden smiled at her, in hopes of an answering smile from the fuming Oracle.

But she only snorted and said, "Well I can tell where this is going. I don't like to be kept in the dark, Aiden. But I know He had something to do with it. Only He can overwork me." And with that she turned around and disappeared in mid walk.

Aiden sighed. He hated making Ananda angry, and she would only get worse from here.

~ ~ ~

Somewhere in the forests near swamp bottom, shadows slipped through the trees. They crawled under the foliage and slithered in the dark spots, avoiding contact with sunlight. With them, they carried an ill will, and an order to kill.

~ - ~ - ~

Okay y'all, now we know what time it is! Review time! Huzzah! Review and I'll love you forever…and you'll get a fifty pound bag of sugar!

silent H ^.^


	16. The Scelestus

Wahoo! I got the next chapter done really fast! Hopefully this'll keep up…I was just really caught up in the story, and I wanted to write the part where…oh well you'll read it. But having off all of those days in school because of holidays sure helped, lol. Thank yew, yom kippor and rosh hasshana (is that spelled rite?) anyway, thanx to all of my wonderful and almighty reviewers. I don't think anyone picked up the clue, except maybe that one reader who said this was built on an interesting concept, which it is (sorry if im not putting your name in, but I'm just too lazy to go an look it up…-_-'''''''). So anyway, on with the story!

Disclaimer: do you really think I own Spirited Away or Card captor Sakura? No, I didn't think so.

*/ lalala /* = flashback

'lalala'-thinking

* * * _with italics_- Dreaming

~ ~ ~ - in Gnimaerd (either Ananda or Aiden)

"lalala"-out loud

Chapter 14: The Scelestus 

"All right, so we all remember the dream." Kohaku said. 

The four of them were sitting outside Zeniba's house. The sun was setting, and it was soon going to be night. Chihiro could see the faint pinpoints of stars on the darkening horizon. The others had shortly joined her after waking up, and all agreed that they had had a 'group dream'. Zeniba had made no appearance yet

Syaoran said, "Okay, now you guys have to explain this necklace thing. Why didn't you tell us?"

Sakura replied, "Well we were going to, but it never really came up when we were with Zeniba. Chihiro and I were going to explain everything so Zeniba could hear it too. But then we just kept talking…" she trailed off.

"Anyway, we don't know what the necklaces are for. But I found mine right before I returned to my body. It was in the room and I just picked it up. But I guess Ananda doesn't know what it is either." Chihiro said.

Sakura added, "And I got mine from Aiden." She continued to tell them about the dream. Syaoran frowned, and Chihiro noticed a slightly jealous look in his eyes.

"So what did he mean when he said he had orders?" Haku asked.

Sakura shrugged. "I have no idea. But he said he didn't get the orders either. So even if we do meet up with Aiden, he probably won't be able to tell us about the necklaces either."

"But," Syaoran said, "He should know _something_ that we don't."

Chihiro said, "Well we should try and find his House as soon as possible…"

Sakura mused, "Capitals…it's like there's something with the capitals."

"What are you talking about?" Chihiro asked.

"I mean, when he was talking about up there, I think he meant it like, Up There with capital letters. And he mentioned a guy…or at least…a he. But it was a capital H, I know it was." Sakura explained, with an odd look on her face.

Haku said, "I don't understand."

Chihiro said, "I think Sakura's means that when you say some words, it just feels like they have to be capitalized. Like Aburaya. You know it's spelled Aburaya, and not with a lowercase A." He nodded slowly. Chihiro said to Sakura, "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"I don't know. I …don't know."

Syaoran said, "Well is there anything else about the necklaces that are important?"

"They glow sometimes." Chihiro said. 

"At _really_ random times." Sakura added.

Haku asked, "Can you make them glow now?"

Both girls shook their heads. Syaoran said, "We should ask Zeniba. Is she up yet? Or is she still sleeping? It's already night out." He looked at the now deep blue sky. Syaoran thought about back in the human world, where you'd never see a sky so clear or so blue.

Chihiro said, "I'll go and check." She stood up and walked to the house. Sakura, Syaoran, and Kohaku sat in silence.

- - -

Chihiro stood in front of the door. She hesitated, and then knocked. She jumped when Zeniba said, "Come in, Chihiro dear."

Chihiro opened the door and went inside. She closed the door softly behind her, and looked around. Zeniba's room looked pretty much like the rest of the house; neat, homey, and with a touch of country. She said, "How did you know it was me?"

"Of course I would know, Chihiro." Zeniba was sitting in a floral armchair. There was a fireplace in here too. "And you're still wearing your hair tie, I notice."

Chihiro grinned. "I never take it off, except when I sleep and when I take a shower." She sheepishly touched it behind her head.

Zeniba nodded. Then she stood up. "I'm sorry if you wanted to talk, but I've just made a decision to visit my shrewd sister at that horribly decorated bathhouse. And I must hurry."

Chihiro opened her mouth, but Zeniba said, "Breakfast is on the table," she waved a hand, "And don't expect me back anytime soon. If you do need to leave, then don't bother to worry. All you need to do is leave a note."

Chihiro said, "Oh, but Granny---"

Zeniba gasped, "That's right! I have something to give to each of you." She hurried to a cabinet on the side of the wall and took out a bag. "In here is a gift for you four. But do not reveal to each other what is in your letter."

Chihiro frowned in puzzlement. What was Zeniba talking about? She took the bag, which wasn't very elaborate or large, for that matter. Chihiro opened her mouth again, but Zeniba gave her a hug and said, "I have a feeling I may not see you for a bit. But don't worry, for if one never leaves, one can never arrive again."

With that, Zeniba straightened up, and then she was gone. Chihiro stood staring at empty space.

~ ~ ~

Ananda was very troubled, indeed.

She sat on her balcony overlooking the terraces below in Uoyera. There was something inside of her that wanted to get out. She closed her eyes tight, and breathed deeply.

Ananda stood up suddenly and went inside. Outside, the skies were clouded. On the horizon, a heavy blanket gathered; a mix of blues, grays, deep mauves, and blacks. A few of the trees had lost their leaves, and they made a crackling sound as a cold wind brushed them over the stones. Some of the flowers were dying. And some were already dead. That day, the train had arrived late.

Ananda was sitting on the large throne like chair in the main Hall. She was meditating when Aiden called. Ananda heard the tone, and grudgingly let a chink open.

A section of air rippled, and then Aiden stepped through. "What do you want now?" she asked coldly.

He hesitated, looking slightly surprised at her tone. "Eh…I just wanted to know what you told them in the dream. About coming to my House."

She was silent. Then she said, "Well I'd like to know what those necklaces were about. He made them, didn't He?" Ananda gave him a cool stare.

Aiden frowned at her, and then closed his eyes. He scrunched his nose as if he was listening to something on a different wavelength, and then nodded to himself. "I'm sorry Ananda, but I don't know either," Aiden said at last.

Ananda burst out, "He just talked to you didn't He?" She looked up and yelled to the ceiling, "Don't shut me out!" Ananda raised a hand as if to do something, but Aiden rushed forward and grabbed her arms and pinned them to her sides. She stopped and stared insolently back.

"You can't speak to your Benefactor like that!" he shouted back. They stood like that for a moment, both flushed and defiant, a silent battle raging. Then Ananda closed her eyes with the same look that Aiden had had, and then she sighed and relaxed. 

"I'll drop it." Ananda whispered. "And I told them they'd have to find their own way. It's what everyone else has to do anyway." She looked away, and there was an awkward pause. Aiden realized he was still holding her arms down and let go.

He stepped back and glanced out the main doors. He saw the clouds and the dying trees. Aiden looked back to Ananda. She was looking too. For a moment he stared into Ananda's eyes as if he was searching for something. And then Aiden stepped back the way he came.

~ ~ ~

Sakura, Syaoran, Kohaku, and Chihiro sat inside eating breakfast. Zeniba had conjured up a delicious meal, and when Chihiro had left Zeniba's room in much puzzlement, she'd been surprised to find them already digging in.

On another table lay Zeniba's bag. "Let's open it later," Kohaku had said. And that's what they had decided to do. But all were equally curious as to what kind of 'gift' they had been given.

 Nobody really talked much, and Kohaku looked like he was busy thinking. Chihiro glanced in his direction, and noticed a look on his face. "What's wrong?" she asked. 

He jumped and looked up. "Oh…I just feel odd. I thought I sensed something for a moment." Syaoran cocked his head for a moment and Sakura looked outside. Night had fallen, and it was extremely dark outside. She could hardly see the gate, or the trees outside. Chihiro noticed too.

"It's awfully dark outside," she said in a sort of nervous laugh, although she didn't know why she was nervous.

Suddenly Haku stood up and gave a sort of growl. "Something's coming," he said darkly. Chihiro stood too in alarm.

"What do you mean?"

Suddenly Syaoran yelled, "The window!" He pointed outside at the dark. They all looked at it immediately and gasped. Outside, the dark was seething. Chihiro thought she saw a red eye peeking in.

She asked, "What is it?"

Haku replied, "I don't know…"

The door crashed open with a bang. Chihiro and Sakura shrieked and Syaoran gasped. Haku turned into a dragon and lunged forward. But then he stopped.

From the doorway, shadows were seeping in like ink spilled on a piece of paper. Chihiro couldn't tell where the doorway had been a few moments ago, as the shadows seemed to eat up at the walls and chairs.

The dragon that was Haku decided to try and attack the shadows, and he lashed his tail out at the growing pool of dark. But the moment he touched it, the dark began to eat away at his tail. Haku snarled and transformed again. Just in time, for there were no injuries on him.

"Don't touch it!" he shouted at them.

Syaoran yelled back, "We kind of figured that one out!"

Sakura, meanwhile, was staring at the walls. All four were now covered in dark, and it was like they were standing on a patch of floor that used to be Zeniba's house.

They all turned their backs on each other and faced the shadows around them. And then, the dark stopped. The air was very still, as if everything was holding its breath.

"What now?" Chihiro whispered.

Then all at once the darkness sprang forward and enveloped them. Chihiro screamed and turned around to try and get to the others. But when she turned around there was only darkness. She yelled, "Haku! Haku! Guys! Where are you?"

Chihiro gasped and looked at her feet. They weren't there. All around her was darkness; it was like being blind, only in some arctic cold. Chihiro tried to move her hands in front of her face, or at least, she thought she was, but couldn't see anything. The dark was still for a moment. 'I'm like a pair of eyes floating in space,' Chihiro thought.

Then she felt something reach out and hit her in the stomach. Chihiro doubled over and gasped. Another arm of shadow tripped her and Chihiro fell down. It was like being beat up while blindfolded.

"Someone! Help!"

- - -

Syaoran ran around, dodging whatever it was that was trying to get at him. After the first hit, Syaoran had started running. 'I should have run into furniture, or the others by now,' he thought.

Syaoran could sense the darkness around him thinking, or at least moving. He barely was able to anticipate what next move the dark was going to make, and dodged them by only a hair. He wondered where the others were, and hoped that Sakura was all right. How was he going to beat this…thing?

Syaoran had a brainwave and took out his sword. To his surprise, he could see it. 'A sword waving around in midair. How interesting.' Syaoran thought. "Come on!" he shouted and sliced at the dark. For a moment he saw a patch of grey where his sword had hit, and then it became black again. "Right," he muttered.

- - -

Haku shouted, "Chihiro? Where are you?" He didn't know what this darkness was, or why it was there. "Who are you?" he shouted at the darkness. Not being able to see was unnerving his usually cool demeanor. And he didn't know where the others were either.

Haku didn't want to try turning into a dragon again. But maybe using a spell might help…

He gathered up energy in his fingers and blew. Globes of light flashed forward. Haku couldn't see where they ended up, but it was obvious that the attack wasn't working. 'Something else,' he thought, 'I need something else.' He looked around at the dark. 

Suddenly something came flying at him and he dodged, but barely. "Whoa," he said out loud. This thing was fast…and powerful. Whatever it had done to the four of them…

Haku narrowed his eyes and then turned as he had felt the darkness rippling and moving. He could sense something coming back at him…like arrows…Haku ducked and felt something whiz by his hair. He immediately sent another spell back at where they had come from.

He squinted his eyes and thought he saw the dark lighten slightly, like a sweater that had been in the wash too many times. But then it filled up again. Haku thought wildly, 'Light! That's it…I need light to get rid of the dark. But that could take too much. I have to try though.' He sat to summon more power. And then the dark struck out. 'Damnit…trying to get enough power for light will be hard enough fighting this!'

- - -

The second the dark swallowed her up, Sakura instantly remembered the play from so long ago. What, four, five years, was it? It was just like the Dark card, only she couldn't see herself. Sakura could feel the cards, almost like they were calling out to be used. She remembered something else—something more recent.

*/_"We are ready. This will not be the first test."_

_Sakura asked hesitantly, "Test?"_

_"There is much to come."_/*

That had been the Wood card when she'd cured the Iris Spirit. Sakura nodded to herself, and released her staff. "What brightens the darkness?" she whispered.

- - -

Chihiro was running out of energy. The dark had been merciless on her, tripping her, and punching her. She ran to try and escape it, but it always knew where she was going. 'What is this?' she thought desperately, 'And where is everyone else?'

She suddenly thought she saw something grey up ahead. Chihiro ran to it frantically. Then it disappeared. And then she felt something strange run through her; no, through the entire shadow. It was like a wave of warmth…and it felt like…surely Chihiro wasn't imagining it…it felt like what magic might feel like. But for some reason, she just knew that it wasn't Haku's.

- - -

"LIGHT!" 

- - -

Zeniba sat across the table from Yubaba. "We must put our differences aside, Yubaba," she said with a frown.

Yubaba glared back. "Well what is this sudden visit about?"

"Chihiro. Something happened to her when she was unconscious."

Yubaba raised an eyebrow. "What happened, dear sister? Pray tell."

"At the moment, what is on my mind is that she said she met a girl who called herself an oracle. And Chihiro said her name was Ananda."

Yubaba sat up straight. "Ananda? As in…a name?" She frowned in puzzlement. "But isn't that supposed to be…"

Zeniba said, "Yes, I thought that too. But I've been thinking some more about what happened."

"Could you just tell me what happened to her?" Yubaba asked with annoyance. "It might make things easier for me, you know."

Zeniba nodded, and with a deep breath began to tell Yubaba just what Chihiro had told her. She went on to explain about when they had arrived, and how Kaonashi had left, and other things relating to it. Yubaba listened with an interested look on her face. "How sure are you so sure that she wasn't dreaming?" she asked.

Zeniba replied, "You know as well as I do that that can't be any dream. Think about Kaonashi."

Yubaba clucked her tongue. "That horrible monster! He cost me so much money! Ugh! I don't know how you could stand to live with him."

Zeniba said, "Focus, Yubaba. Everything isn't about money, you know. I think there is someone else behind this."

"I can see where you are coming from," Yubaba said slowly. Both of the sisters sat in silence for a moment.

Zeniba said, "I left them with gifts before I came here. But they weren't my gifts. While I was thinking about Chihiro's story, something spoke to me. It was like something was talking on another line. But I understood completely, like I had the ability to talk or listen on that line of thought, but had never been able to before."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's hard to explain. Anyway, it wasn't exactly a voice. Sort of like I just knew that I was supposed to give the four of them these gifts, but to say they were from me. I think that's what happened to Kaonashi."

Yubaba said, "Hmmm. It's like someone is behind the curtain, working out everything that goes onstage."

"Something big is happening, Yubaba. We can't afford to let our differences keep us apart." 

"And that bit about Ananda. I wish we knew some more. Do you think she is…"

"Yes, I do."

"But wasn't it supposed to be…"

"I don't know. But if we're right…we're in trouble."

@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@

hey yall, thank you so much for all of the great reviews. Pleeeeeeeeeeeese go and review my other fic, cos I have only 3 reviews on it, and I'm really sad. But anyway, please leave a review in the designated area, and have a nice day ^.^

ooo btw, I decided to give out food at the end of each chapter!! Today, my reviewers will get Sushi! Yay! (lol yum yum yum…) if you have any requests for next time, just say the word!

silent H ^.^


	17. Syaoran's Memory

Man, I'm tired! I've done the longest writing in one sitting ever! I practically just wrote the entire chapter, and I'm bushed. But I'm glad I got to post this ^.^ whoosh…thanks dearly to all of my reviewers! And guess what! In this chapter, I reveal one of the most important plot thingies ever!!!!!!! I don't know if it will explain a lot for you, but it should, since my entire story is based on that concept (sort of). 

So anyway, I'm glad that's done. Read on!

Disclaimer: …you think of one!

*/ lalala /* = flashback

'lalala'-thinking

* * * _with italics_- Dreaming

~ ~ ~ - in Gnimaerd (either Ananda or Aiden)

"lalala"-out loud

Chapter 15: Syaoran's Memory 

"LIGHT!" Sakura shouted. The glowing figure of the Light Card appeared and Sakura saw in the faint glow, her hands. For a moment the Light paused and faced her, hair glowing. The card smiled and then opened her arms wide, and then there was an intensely bright light. Sakura held up a hand to shield her eyes, and for a moment she felt her head buzz oddly, but it was like a happy buzz, as if it was saying 'good job'.

Then the flash of light was gone, and Sakura found she could see again. The Light floated in front of her, and its eyes were like Wood's had been. And like the Wood had done, it spoke to her.

"Remember your invincible spell," Light told her. "Yours was the heart I could live in." Then it went back to its card, and this time, Light's eyes were open.

Sakura stared at the card, thinking hard. Then, on impulse, she took out the Dark and released it. Sakura watched as the lovely figure of Dark appeared, with hair of ebony and pale skin like the light of the moon. Sakura said, "I'm sorry, but I wanted to know if you wanted to say anything to me too."

The Dark replied, "Though a different Dark will come for you, if you find 'it', you shall conquer. Remember what Light said." And then it was gone too, like the Light.

Sakura stared thoughtfully at the two cards. Then she looked up, and gasped. Syaoran, Chihiro, and Haku had been watching the whole time. Syaoran looked oddly surprised; Haku, only slightly surprised; Chihiro, though, was staring with a look of complete shock on her face. And Sakura couldn't blame her.

Chihiro said, "You have _a lot_ of explaining to do."

Syaoran opened his mouth to say something to Sakura, but then---

KNOCK KNOCK

Someone was knocking on the door. Everyone jumped visibly, and turned to the door. Chihiro looked outside and noted that the sky was back to a normal velvety blue, and the shadows were only deeper shades of mauve, warm and friendly.

Haku shouted, "Who is it?" Chihiro almost laughed from the normalness of it.

And then someone replied, "Is Chihiro there? She'll vouch for me." And then Chihiro didn't feel like laughing.

Haku swiftly glanced at her, and said, "Do you know who it is?"

"It's Aiden."

Sakura, who had been thinking hard to remember who it was, gave a little "oh" of recognition. She said, "Open the door. It's him."

So Haku did. And there was Aiden. Chihiro had only seen him a few times during her stay at Gnimaerd, but he was still familiar…and handsome. He gave the impression of being the kind of person who you'd meet, and then immediately trust. She was struck suddenly by how green his eyes were, like Haku's.

"I'm overriding the system," he said. "I'll take you to my House myself. There isn't any time left, and we have to leave immediately."

Chihiro blurted out, "But she has to exp---" 

Aiden cut her off. "Look, I'm sorry, but any further explanations will have to wait. It's not safe here anymore; They will come back, and it will just make things harder for us."

Syaoran said, "Who's they?"

"The Scelestus," Aiden replied. "Like I said, no time. We're leaving…" he checked the clock on the wall, "…now."

He walked over to another door in the wall that Chihiro hadn't noticed before. It was a regular wooden door, and it looked almost exactly like part of the wall itself. Aiden grasped its small handle, and opened it. "Ladies first," he said, with a gallant smile.

Chihiro hesitated, and then walked over to the door. Sakura, Syaoran, and Kohaku watched as she walked through, and then (with an encouraging smile from Aiden) Sakura followed suit. Syaoran and Haku didn't exactly distrust Aiden, because of what Sakura and Chihiro had told them. He was just an unknown. So they went in too.

- - -

"Wow," Chihiro said softly. With a soft whoosh, Sakura, Syaoran, Haku, and finally Aiden arrived next to her. She guessed that they were in the foyer of his House. 'But no foyer ever looked like this,' she thought.

Behind them, Aiden closed the door and said with a sweep of his arm, "Welcome to my House." The four of them looked around amazement.

The 'foyer' was paneled in a rich golden brown wood that looked practically seamless from one board to the next. The floor was made of many different kinds of marble, from rosy pink, snow white, glittering black, to gold veined blue. Chihiro had the feeling that they made some kid of pattern that was only visible from a higher point of view, since she could only see random colors. Oddly enough, there was no furniture at all in the entire space.

The sheer size of the room was breathtaking. Sakura would've bet that it was at least five times the size of the entire Aburaya. There were no lamps, but light seemed to emanate from nowhere. But it was the doors that caught their attention. All over the walls, placed at complete random, were doors of every shape and size. There were wooden doors, iron doors, brightly colored ones, doors as tiny as books, long thin doors, and doors as wide as garages. 

Chihiro had no idea how someone would access the doors, since they seemed to just be stuck on the wall without any way of getting to them. There were no stairs.

Aiden started walking forward. The movement jerked them out of their staring stupor, and they followed him. He said, "We should go somewhere where we can talk."

They trekked across the spacious floor. Haku whispered to Chihiro, "Did you see the floor? It's like the colors are moving." Chihiro looked at the floor again, and saw that whenever she thought she had a distinct shape figured out, it was completely different.

"Yeah," Chihiro whispered back, "and what's with all of the doors?" Haku  shrugged in return. 

After more walking, in awed silence, they had (surprisingly) made it about most of the way across the floor. Aiden held up a hand and they all stopped. He muttered something to himself, and then said, addressing them, "Stand back." Aiden waved his hand, and one of the doors up on the wall opened.

The door was a plain rice-paper sliding door, and though Chihiro strained her eyes she couldn't discern what was inside. Suddenly something fell down from it. She realized it was a ladder, which looked like it was made from paper too.

Aiden said in an annoyed tone to the door, "Could we make it a little easier, please?" The ladder withdrew into the door, and moments later a stair unfolded from it. It was made of paper, like the ladder. "Come on then," Aiden said.

Syaoran stepped on after Aiden, and then Sakura decided it was safe so she followed. Kohaku said to Chihiro, "Let's go." Chihiro followed, slightly hesitant. The moment she stepped on it, the stair began moving. She was caught off balance and fell forward. Luckily Haku caught her, and Chihiro felt herself blushing as the ladder carried them upwards.

Sakura had also been surprised by the sudden acting up of the stairs, and grabbed Syaoran's arm. She watched as the floor drew away, and managed to see part of the design. There was something that looked like a flower in it…maybe an Iris. And then they were inside the room.

This one was smaller, and looked like the old fashioned Japanese restaurants they had downtown back in the human world. There were low tables and mats to sit on, and the walls were made of rice paper just like the door.

Aiden walked to one of the doors and said, "Let's get some fresh air." They realized that this door was like the modern glass sliding doors, oddly enough. He opened it, and Syaoran let out a small gasp. 

The door slid open to a balcony, which overlooked what appeared to be a dueling square. Walls enclosed it in, like the one Syaoran guessed they were in, with balconies overlooking the square below. But it reminded him of a place where he once trained… Syaoran remembered his thoughts before the big 'group dream' thing.

Sakura said into the silence, "You call that a house? It's more like a…a…"

"An airplane hangar, or at least it's big enough to fit a few," said Syaoran.

"Like a giant portal to different places," Chihiro added.

Haku said thoughtfully, "Or like an in-between place…"

Aiden said, "Well, it's my home, and it's basically in the Spirit World. But we're not here to discuss my House. I'm sure you all have a lot of questions. But first I think we need to be a bit more open."

"Yes," Chihiro said. "What was that you did, Sakura? Back there with those…shadowy things. You brought the light in, didn't you?"

Everyone looked at Sakura, and she said, "It's a long story…"

Aiden replied, "We have time enough. In my house, time is irrelevant. So we should have enough time for even Chihiro's story, am I right?"

Chihiro said, none too taken aback, "I should have guessed that you knew about that. You're not like the rest of us; you're like Ananda."

"Well, let's sit and first we'll hear Sakura," Aiden answered coolly. So they all sat at the table in the middle of the room, Aiden at the head.

Sakura took a deep breath, and said, "First of all, Chihiro, I have a feeling that you're the only one who has no idea what Syaoran and I can do." She held up a hand as Chihiro opened her mouth. "Haku saw us use our magic before…anyway…a long time ago there was a powerful magician named Clow Reed………"

Chihiro listened with wide eyes as Sakura told her everything about her magic up until the part when Eriol left. She even demonstrated, at the request of Aiden. And then, her voice growing a little hoarse from the talking, Sakura told the truth about what happened with the Iris Spirit, with help from Syaoran (who explained about his odd dream-visit from the Iris Spirit when he had been knocked out). When she was done, there was a silence.

Sakura said, "I hope you're not angry at me for keeping this from you, Chihiro. But not even my dad knew till the end about my magic."

"I'm not mad. I kept things from you too…" Chihiro replied. "It clears a lot of things up…in a way. But then again, I have a lot more questions now, especially about that Iris Spirit…"

Aiden, who had been listening with a mask of indifference on, thought, 'So that's what happened. But then they didn't get the whole message. Ah well…'

Out loud, Aiden said, "Well, we'll leave questions for later. Chihiro…let's hear your story."

Sakura said, "I've been waiting to hear this." Syaoran nodded in agreement. 

Chihiro began, "When I was ten we moved. And I used to be so lazy…but anyway, we were on the road and my dad decided to take a shortcut…"

Syaoran and Sakura were amazed to hear Chihiro's story. Sakura was very impressed with how well Chihiro had handled everything, and thought it was very sweet on how much she seemed to care for Haku. Sakura thought she saw Haku turn a faint pink when Chihiro told them about how much she had been worried about him.

At the end of her story, Sakura said, "That's what the hairtie was about. Now I get everything."

Chihiro laughed a little. Aiden stood up and said, "Well now, doesn't it feel better to get that kind of thing in the open? Now let's have some food, I'm starving." 

He was met with cries of surprise. "Didn't you say you would answer our questions now?" Haku said.

Aiden replied, "Yes, I said later. It's not later yet, and I'm a bit hungry." He closed his eyes as if he was concentrating, and the said, "I just ordered us some food from the kitchens."

Syaoran said, "What?"

"I have kitchens," Aiden said, as if it was perfectly normal, "in case of guests. And servants, though you haven't seen them just yet. I'll be right back." Aiden walked out onto the balcony, which actually was joined to the other balconies, so it was like a whole veranda on the inside of the square.

After he disappeared, Chihiro said, "Well."

"This is very interesting," Syaoran said. "What do you make of him?" he asked Haku.

"I don't know, he seems so different. Like what Chihiro said earlier, he's not like the rest of us." Haku replied.

Sakura said, "Aiden always seems to be so relaxed. It's like a mask or something. And he looks only a day past seventeen…"

Chihiro said, "Well look at Ananda. She looks like she's ten! But then it's seems on the inside, Ananda is older than that."

"Is she immortal or something?" Syaoran asked no one in particular.

Haku said, "I think they are something else, something that's not human or spirit."

Chihiro added pensively, "I think they're both very old. Like the saying 'as old as the hills.'"

Before anyone could say anything else, Aiden was back. He was holding something in a package, but he put it on a shelf before they could fully analyze it. He looked to the door and it opened.

A large tray floated in, and then Chihiro could see that a small thing at the end was carrying it. It looked like a little shapeless ghost, the color of frost in the morning. The little spirit-servant set the tray on the table, and then left. Aiden said, "That's one of my newer models. I design spirit-servants to do things for me, for as you can see, my House is a bit large."

Syaoran muttered, "That's an understatement."

Aiden said, "Dig in!"

- - -

Syaoran stood at the balcony. He had finished eating a while ago (he didn't know how long; whenever someone mentioned time, Aiden always said that was irrelevant) and had gone outside to think. He felt like something was pulling at his memory, something important that he had to remember. The feeling had grown since they'd entered this room.

He could hear Chihiro and Sakura talking quietly inside, and had the feeling that Haku was sitting and thinking, or maybe watching Chihiro like Syaoran had noticed he did. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Aiden.

"What's up?"

Syaoran raised his eyebrows. "The sky," he replied dryly.

Aiden gave him a wide grin. "I wanted to show you something," he said, and walked over to the shelf where he'd put the long package. He brought it over and unwrapped it. It was a sword.

Syaoran couldn't help but whistle in appreciation. The sword looked like glass, or a milky crystal. The blade was curved, and had designs etched into it, in some sort of alphabet Syaoran didn't recognize. The handle looked like the handle of a katana, only it was made of glass, with colored swirls and whorls like a marble.

"Do you like it?" Aiden asked quietly.

Syaoran looked up at him. "It's amazing…but the it's like it's made of glass!"

Aiden only chuckled. "Take it, try it out," he urged.

Syaoran hesitated, and then took the handle. He held up the sword and balanced it on the end of his finger. It was perfectly balanced, and weighed practically nothing. Then he tossed it in the air, and it made a sound as it swished through the air. Syaoran caught it, trying to think of the sound…it was like…pouring glass out of a cup…or…the sound of diamonds…

Syaoran held it tight, and brought it in an arc through the air. He fought an invisible opponent with it, listening to its soft zing as the blade cut through the air. After a few minutes, he stopped and held it out to Aiden. 

Aiden held up a hand. "Keep it. You deserve a sword like that."

"But," Syaoran protested, "I can't take it…I have my own sword. The blade is made out of diamond, isn't it?"

Aiden ignored his question and said, "You may need it. Will you give it a name for me?"

Syaoran looked at the sword. 'Why would you name a sword?' he thought. But then, as he looked at it, a name came up in his mind. "Meracus…" he whispered.

"An interesting name," Aiden said. Then, out of nowhere, he held out a sheath for it. It was plain and unremarkable, except for a word written on it: Meracus.

Syaoran stared at it in interest, and then decided not to ask. He took the sheath and buckled it around his waist, and put the sword in it. When he looked up, Aiden had gone back inside.

- - -

Haku sat, watching Chihiro talking to Sakura and eating. His eyes lingered on her face, silently drinking it up with the pretense of being deep in thought. He knew he should be trying to think over all of this information, but Kohaku's mind kept drifting off to Chihiro.

Suddenly, a voice said into his mind, "You like Chihiro, don't you?"

Haku immediately sat up and looked around. He saw Aiden sitting in the corner, and realized that the voice had been Aiden's. 'What do you want?' he thought warily.

In Haku's mind, Aiden sighed. "You still don't trust me completely. Be a little more open, Kohaku."

Haku thought coldly, 'You still haven't explained everything. We hardly know you. How could I be expected to trust you so easily?'

"How should I know? I'm just telling you to."

'Well what do you want?'

"Do you like Chihiro? You do. Admit it."

'I…don't know what you're talking about.'

"Oh come on. I'm not stupid, as you must have figured out already. And besides, you should know that I'm not like the rest of you. I have my ways."

Haku sat up when he heard the familiar words. So somehow Aiden had overheard them…the voice in his head said, "Yeah, it's my House. I know what goes on in my House."

'And you can read minds.'

"Well only if I want. It's a nice parlor trick."

'So………what if I do?'

"Do what?"

'You know what I'm talking about!'

"No, I don't."

'I………I love Chihiro. Okay?'

"Good. That's what I thought." Aiden was silent in his head for a moment, and Haku sat wondering if he had been smart to confess his feelings for Chihiro to Aiden. But now that he thought about it…he was beginning to trust him. Aiden said into his head, "Look in that box to your right."

Kohaku looked down and saw, with surprise, a small box. He reached over and opened it. Inside lay a rose. But it seemed like so much more…as if the rose was filling out its outlines completely. Its leaves were a brilliant green, like the green of a thousand of trees, and its petals were deep red and as soft as velvet. Haku picked it up. 

'What's this?'

"I want you to give it to her."

'Now?'

"No. You'll know when the right time is. You'll know."

'If you say so…'

- - -

Syaoran stared blankly into space, his mind not really concentrating on anything. He felt oddly at peace.

He found himself thinking of his master, and lessons that he used to have along with his training. Syaoran fingered the handle of Meracus. His eyes widened and Syaoran could feel himself thinking deeper and deeper…

Syaoran felt himself climbing down a chain of memories…he was looking for the right one…he knew there was something important that he had forgotten…

He had it.

- - -

Aiden sat inside, waiting. Chihiro said, "Can you answer our questions now?"

He said, "Not just yet."

Chihiro sighed and munched on a donut. Sakura stared outside at Syaoran. He looked like he was in some sort of trance…suddenly he straightened up and turned around. 

Aiden knew Syaoran should remember soon. Meracus would help him remember. 

Syaoran burst through the door, startling everyone.

"I have it!" he shouted. "The significance of Ananda!"

Aiden smiled.

Syaoran looked at Aiden. 'He knows, doesn't he…'

Sakura said, "What are you talking about?"

"Ananda. It's Sanskrit! **_That joy in existence without which the universe would fall apart and collapse_**." 

@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@

So what do ya think? If you didn't get it, the big revelation was the last line. And that bombshell of a clue I dropped was Syaoran mentioning Sanskrit in the last chapter…but anyways, please drop a review!

Today, all of my lovely reviewers will be getting ramen, by special request! Dig in!

silent H   :D


	18. A Matter of Heart

Hey guys, I'm back! I'm SOOOOOOO SORRY I didn't post sooner, but we had this assignment in English to write a short story, and it took up all of my time and stuff. But to make up for it, I have a nice surprise in this chappie for everyone…tee hee…

I wont tell you who the chapter title refers to…and the little excerpt is from that song by Clay Aiken…I really like the lyrics, they're awesome…oh where was I?

Anyway, more plot stuff is discussed, and I make way for fluff by splittin up Chihiro and Haku from Syaoran and Sakura…and where did Aiden go? Oh blah, just get on to reading already!

Disclaimer: hehe…thanks to cettie-girl for this awesome disclaimer : silent H has earned the right to own CCS and Spirited Away... *sees angry lawyers approaching* erm... or at least the right to use them in a fanfic? *they back off*

*/ lalala /* = flashback

'lalala'-thinking

* * * _with italics_- Dreaming

~ ~ ~ - in Gnimaerd (either Ananda or Aiden)

"lalala"-out loud

_if hearts were unbreakable_

_then I could just tell you where I stand_

Chapter 16: A Matter of Heart 

"That joy in existence without which the universe would fall apart and collapse…" Chihiro repeated softly. She closed her eyes and thought hard. Syaoran stood panting in the doorway, looking slightly sheepish, but triumphant all the same. Sakura's eyes were wide, and Kohaku looked surprised as well.

Sakura said, "But what does it mean then?"

Syaoran replied, "I don't know…I just remembered learning about Ananda a long time ago. Remember what Zeniba asked us? How weird her question sounded…she must have known too."

"That doesn't answer my question, though."

Chihiro said quietly, "Don't you see? It makes perfect sense now that you think about it. 'Ananda' put in plain terms must be joy…and if it's gone then the world will end."

"Of course," Haku said suddenly. "All of the things going on in your world, and in the Spirit World. Something must be happening--"

"To her…" Syaoran finished. They all sat, excitement coursing through their veins at the discovery. Syaoran said to Aiden, "You knew, didn't you? Why can't you guys just tell us things like that? Why do there always have to be tests?"

Aiden said lightly, "Well, you are right. And don't go asking me why…I don't know half of things that go on around…well, anyway…" His face darkened. "But this is important. Ananda is dying, and it's about time for me to start answering questions. So fire away."

As Syaoran plopped down into his seat with raised eyebrows, Chihiro spoke first. "All right then…what is it with these necklaces? When do they glow, or is it really random?"

Before Aiden could answer, Syaoran interrupted, "Sakura, I forgot to tell you. I don't think you noticed, but your necklace was glowing when you spoke to the Light and Dark cards."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Syaoran!"

"Sorry Chihiro."

Aiden said, "It's alright. But I'm sorry to say I don't know much about them. I was only given orders to give them to you guys, not information. All I know is that they have something to do with curing Ananda."

"Curing?" Haku said.

"Yes." Aiden said. "Chihiro…have you noticed how she started to become…more irritable?"

Chihiro said slowly, "Yes…I did. When she visited us in our dreams…I went to hug her, but she pulled away."

He said heavily, "Well, that's a part of it."

"Wait a minute," Sakura said, "Just what exactly is happening to her? Is she really…dying?"

Aiden looked at the ground for a few moments. Chihiro suddenly felt a wave of empathy for Aiden; so remote from them. She knew that he and Ananda must be very good friends…as old as the hills…

Aiden said, "It's a long story."

"We have time." Syaoran said sardonically.

Aiden managed a grin and said at last, "I don't know how much I am allowed to tell you…but here it goes. 

"In the beginning, Ananda didn't have a physical form. But then she gained one. That was before I was…er…born. So, for a time, it was good. What happened next…well, stuff happened, and Ananda started to die. It was very slow, so that I didn't notice until recently, and neither did the…I mean…you see how your own world has been consumed by greed for money, and you've had violence and terrible wars. In the spirit world, there is greed also. There are some demons, but in both worlds things used to be peaceful. 

"It all connects, in the end." Aiden finished, somewhat lamely.

Haku said, "Is that it? You've left us a couple of big holes in that one."

"You'll have to fill them in yourself." Aiden replied.

Chihiro said softly, "Ananda is dying…and the world is dying with her."

Syaoran asked, "But how? Is it her being angry, or feeling things she's not supposed to? Is she supposed to always be happy?"

"That's the basic idea." Aiden said. He sounded oddly distant all of a sudden, like he wasn't really paying attention. Then it was as if his thoughts reassembled, and Aiden said, "But again, I don't know much."

Haku said, "Or you just can't tell us."

"All right you guys!" Sakura said suddenly, standing up. "We have to do something. We gotta figure out what these necklaces have to do with Ananda…and how to make her happy again. That's how to make her better, isn't it? She has to become happy?" No one answered.

Syaoran quietly fingered Meracus. "This will be harder than it seems, if no one will guide us." He gave Aiden a tiny glare.

"Can I ask another question?" Sakura said. Aiden nodded, and she said, "In my dream…you mentioned orders from Up There…about the necklaces."

"Ah yes." Aiden said. He was silent for a while, while the others waited in expectation. Then, after quite a few minutes had passed, Chihiro got the feeling that silence was all they were going to get for now.

She said, "Aiden?"

He jumped as if waking up from a trance. "Sorry, I spaced out for a bit there," he said apologetically. "Anyway, about Up There…" Aiden stopped again, and winced slightly, as if he had just heard nails across a chalkboard. He stood up abruptly. "I have to go; Ananda wants to speak to me," he said shortly. "I should be back shortly." And with that Aiden was gone. He just disappeared.

Chihiro shouted, "Wait! Hold on!" but knew that he wouldn't hear her. He was probably already there.

Haku said, "Well now we have time to figure out how to heal Ananda."

"So where should we start?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura replied, "I think we should start with these necklaces. Aiden said that they might have something to do with curing Ananda." She took hers off and Chihiro followed suite. Sakura took them both and put them on the table in front of everybody. For a few moments, nobody said anything, and just stared at the two unassuming necklaces. 

Chihiro said, "Well…now what?"

Haku answered, "Could I look at one of them?"

"Of course," Sakura said, handing over Chihiro's necklace to Haku. He took it and stared at it for a while. In the meantime, Syaoran started talking.

"Okay. So we have no idea how we're gonna cure Ananda, except that these necklaces are part of it. And Aiden didn't have time to explain anything else to us. Does anyone have any ideas as to what they might do?"

Chihiro shouted suddenly, "It's glowing!"

"We know they glow, Chihiro."

"No! I mean, it's glowing! The one in Haku's hand."

Heads snapped to Kohaku, who was staring at the pendant with slightly raised eyebrows. He looked surprised. "I didn't do anything to it. It just started glowing."

Sakura said excitedly, "Let me see it!" Haku held out the softly lit pendant and dropped it into her hand. To everyone's surprise, the light immediately went out, just like a light bulb. Sakura gave a 'HOE' of disappointment.

"What made it stop?"

Syaoran said, "I don't know. Give it here." He took the necklace, and once again, to everyone's ultimate shock, the stone lit up. It wasn't as bright as before, but it glowed, nonetheless.

"Why," Chihiro said slowly, "does it only light up for Syaoran and Haku? Sakura, give me your necklace." Sakura handed it over and Chihiro held it expectantly. She hoped it would light up. When it touched her hands, Chihiro grinned as the stone started to glow. But then it gave a quick flash, and went out. "What was that about?" she said.

They tried it on everyone. Chihiro's necklace worked for Haku and Syaoran, and Sakura's didn't work on anyone at all, except when it had lit up for a moment at Chihiro's touch. Sakura tried her magic on it, and Haku and Syaoran too, and Chihiro poked and prodded the stones, but nothing could explain it.

"This isn't helping much," Syaoran said at last.

Haku said, "Maybe if you guys could tell us when they lit up for you. All those random times."

"Okay." Chihiro said. "The first time was when I first saw the necklace. And then…I think when I said goodbye to Kamajii. And when Sakura took hers out they both did a glowing bit. I think that's it."

Sakura said then, "Mine lit up then, and then when Syaoran said it did. I didn't notice it then, though. I was too busy talking to the cards…" she trailed off.

"Is that all? Try and remember." Haku said.

That made Chihiro remember something else. She said abruptly, "Oh shit! The gifts! We left them at Zeniba's house! We have to go get them. She said they were important." She stood up and went to the door.

"But Chihiro, we can't just _leave_." Sakura said, exasperated. "We have to figure this out."

Chihiro said, "Well, how about two of us go and get the gifts, and the other two stay here and try to figure out stuff. And if Aiden comes back, you can tell him where they've gone."

Syaoran replied, "I don't think it's a good idea to split up. What about those things he said would come? The…scellywhatsists. They could be at Zeniba's house now."

Haku said, "The Scelestus."

"Yeah, them."

Chihiro said, "But it could be important. You know how in books the heroes always get advice or words of wisdom or stuff like that? Well, this might be ours."

Sakura said quietly, "We're heroes. People have to accomplish something first before they earn a title like that. What happens if we fail?" Sakura's words were greeted by silence. 

"Well…this could help." Chihiro said. "So who's coming with me?" 

"I'll come." Haku stood up. Chihiro felt her stomach flutter slightly.

"All right then," she said, hiding a smile. "We shouldn't take too long." Chihiro said to Sakura and Syaoran. She walked over to the door, slid it open, and groaned at the sight of no stairs.

"Stairs? Come out?" Chihiro said hesitantly. She waved an arm in the air in front of the door, and there was a whooshing sound. The stairs came up from the dazzling floor below and attached itself to the floor in the room. Chihiro turned and waved at Sakura and Syaoran, and stepped on the stairs. Haku followed behind her, and to her relief, the stairs decided not to move. Perhaps they were too lazy. 

After they were gone, Syaoran said, "Wait…isn't Scelestus Latin for…wicked?"

- - -

"What is it, Ananda?"

"The train didn't come today." Ananda was standing in front of the Temple, Aiden facing her. A cold, harsh wind blew through the grounds, and it rattled the dead trees.

Aiden was silent for a moment. He knew that that would happen. Gnimaerd was dependent on Ananda, and if she died, it would die too. Aiden gazed sadly at her, thinking of how he might lose his only friend since the beginning of his creation. But he wouldn't let that happen. Then he said, "Why?"

She replied, "I don't know. I don't know. Why didn't it come?" Ananda suddenly sounded small, and frightened, like a real ten year old. Aiden was startled. Instead of angry, today she was…scared.

And then she started crying. Tears fell down from her gold eyes, streaking across Ananda's pale face. She cried without sound or movement, as if her eyes had only sprung a leak. She turned to Aiden, eyes moist, and he took a step back in shock. Ananda never cried. Never, never, never, never, never.

She whispered, "What's going to happen? Kaonashi, he…I feel different…and the flowers…" her voice dwindled into silence.

"I don't know either," Aiden said softly. "But we can fix it."

And they both heard the voice speak into their minds, vibrating on a different wavelength. 

**stop crying**

Ananda closed her eyes. 

Aiden… 

Aiden walked over and put his hand on Ananda's shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked at him, and he saw Depression in her. Things were bad. The voice said into his own mind, privately,

**you cannot do much for her**

**no matter how much you---**

Aiden said hastily, "I don't." 

**whatever you say**

**before you return to the four**

**stop by and pick up the gifts**

**they forgot them… and they must figure it out**

Aiden sighed. He brusquely drew Ananda to him and hugged her tightly, though she seemed not to notice. And he returned to his House.

~ ~ ~

Sakura and Syaoran sat in the room, both silent. The two necklaces still lay on the table, both pendants dark.

"Syaoran," Sakura said suddenly, "where did you get that sword?"

He said, "Aiden gave it to me. When you guys were eating." He took it out of its sheath, and held it up to the light. Sakura's eyes widened at the glass and crystal, and made a silent motion as if to hold it. Syaoran held it out to her.

"What is it made of?" Sakura asked, holding it delicately.  She ran a finger lightly down the edge of the blade, peering at the strange design etched in on it.

Syaoran said, "Diamond. Or at least, I think it is. Aiden wouldn't say. But if you strike it through the air…that's what it sounds like." Sakura looked at him questioningly. She waved the Meracus around, trying to listen to it. The only problem was that she wasn't doing it right…although the Sword card made Sakura a good swordfighter; she really didn't know much about how to hold one on her own. Syaoran itched to correct her. He stepped closer to Sakura and said, "Here, let me…"

Syaoran stood behind her and wound his arms around Sakura, putting his hands on hers and fixing her grip on Meracus. "You raise your arms like this, and then…" Syaoran moved her arms with his and brought the sword swishing down through the air with a zing. Sakura gave an 'oh' of surprise. She could feel her cheeks turning red as Syaoran moved with her through various thrusts and parries, though her mind felt incredibly clear.

After a few more moves Syaoran suddenly realized that he was _holding_ Sakura, and he stepped back, mumbling and blushing profusely. He didn't notice her doing the same. 

"It's beautiful." Sakura said. She held it out to him, handle first, and when he touched it, Syaoran felt a strange calmness break over him.

"Soweru," he said in a rush, despite the calm. 

Sakura said, "What?"

"I mean…oh, forget it…" Syaoran decided not to bother with words, and he dropped Meracus as he grabbed Sakura around the waist and kissed her.

- - -

Chihiro and Haku were having trouble. 

"What did the door look like, again?"

"I don't remember. But nothing looks like it could be it…"

"Well…let's try that one."

Haku raised an eyebrow. "Chihiro, although I don't remember what Zeniba's door looked like, I'm sure that those doors aren't it."

Chihiro was pointing at a pair of doors at the other end of the room. They were on the ground, which would mean that getting inside whatever room there was would be easy. But they looked like they were made of gold, and the doors seemed to be larger than any other door in the room.

Chihiro said, "I know…but I just want to…I don't know. Don't you feel like the doors are beckoning to you?"

Haku looked at her in surprise. "No…Chihiro!" Haku called after her, for Chihiro had just taken off for the doors, running across the expansive floor towards the golden doors at the end. He ran after her.

Chihiro knew that Haku could catch up to her, but still she kept running. A wave of curiosity had just swept her conscience away, and Chihiro just ran. Halfway there, Haku caught up. "Chihiro!" he panted as they ran, "We have to get the gifts!"

She shook her head. "I want to see what's inside." He gave up and followed her to the doors. When they got there, Chihiro stooped over, heaving breaths. Then she went up to them. "There's something written on them."

The doors read

Sirbil Xe 

"I have no idea what that means." Haku said. Chihiro, however, scrunched her eyes up in thought. 

"You've probably never heard of Alice in Wonderland…" Chihiro mused, "But by now I think I should pay attention to anything written on anything. Only I don't know what this says either…" She frowned, thinking hard. "On the plaque the words were backwards. So maybe here they're backwards too. That would be 'Ex Libris' then. But what does that mean?"

Haku said, "Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe it's in some language of yours?"

Chihiro said, "It could be Latin. But I don't take Latin in school; Sakura does. And Syaoran might know some. But anyway…it doesn't sound harmful, does it?"

Kohaku frowned. Chihiro was being awfully lax lately. But despite himself, Haku was getting a bit curious to see what would be behind those doors. "We could take a peek…" Kohaku said slowly. So Chihiro dashed forward and opened the door.

- - -

Sakura's eyes widened as Syaoran grabbed her waist and then bent down and kissed her. For a moment, she just stared in shock at his closed eyes (hoe!), and then she closed hers too.

Very gently, Syaoran deepened the kiss and Sakura's arms relaxed and wrapped themselves around his neck. He could feel Sakura smiling and suddenly, so was he, and everything was okay. He had nothing to worry about.

Syaoran reluctantly disengaged himself from her, and they both stood there, panting slightly. For a moment Sakura forgot about everything that had been happening lately, and just enjoyed the warmth of his arms and the tingling sensation that was spreading from her face to her toes.  

Syaoran stepped back slightly and she looked at him. He opened his mouth and started to say, "Sakura, I---" but Sakura put a finger on his lips and smiled at him. She didn't need to hear it, or say it. They both just knew. 

So he kissed her again, and Sakura put her hand on the table to steady herself, her fingers brushing against one of the pendants. And a bright light enveloped them.

@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@

so what did you guys think of the kiss? Was it good? Bad? Incredibly terrible? (I go with the latter…but all artists have to mutilate their own work.) And a note to all of those C+H shippers…well they wont exactly get together till later.

On another note…today I'm giving out candy! (Ok, so Hallowe'en is over. But it was only a few days ago!) I for one am in LOVE with Reeses! They're not kidding when they say you get lost in a reeses…hehe. So whatever candy you love, that's what you're getting…ok…I'm getting a bit too excited with this here.

Ja, and drop a review!

silent H =P


	19. Treachery in the Library

Hey everybody! I got really nice feedback on the kiss…::glows:: yay! Thankees thankees!!!!! I hope you like this one…no kissing in it, though. But it'll give you something to ponder until my next posting…

Just a note…I DO plan to finish this fic. So even if it seems like I'm not posting right away, don't think I'm givin up on this fic! It's come a long way…sighs.

Okey dokey! On with the fic!

Disclaimer: I don't own spirited away or CCS…YET! MUAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

*/ lalala /* = flashback

'lalala'-thinking

* * * _with italics_- Dreaming

~ ~ ~ - in Gnimaerd (either Ananda or Aiden)

"lalala"-out loud

Chapter 17: Treachery in the Library 

There was a bright light, and when it cleared her first thought was that in front of them was a gigantic library. Or at least, that was what Chihiro thought once the bright light went away. She couldn't really tell how big the library was, because right in front of them was a very tall bookcase that stretched as far as Chihiro and Haku could see, in both directions like one long wall. But she could see the ceiling, and it looked like it went on farther in front of them. The ceiling was very high up, and had old and musty molding on it that you usually saw in New York lofts.

The floor was plain marble; alternating squares of rosy pink and cold white, occasionally crossed by aged red carpeting. And music was playing from somewhere; it was soft and hid between the books, unnoticed. It was classical, or something like it.

"Well then, I guess it's a library," Chihiro said, stating the obvious. "Or at least, there's a really big bookshelf that someone forgot to move."

Haku said, "Maybe we should go. This place looks big…and we could get lost." He turned around and saw that the door was closed behind them, apparently locked. Haku approached it, but before he could try to open the door, a little tinny voice said, "Look at a book you must, yes. You should read something."

Before he could respond, Haku heard Chihiro give an exclamation of surprise. "Look Haku!" 

Chihiro was holding a book that she'd pulled out from the shelf. Haku noted that the books on the bookshelf were stacked at least four deep, and most were covered in a thick coating of dust. 

"It's a book we're reading in school," she said. "Animal Farm…" Chihiro put it back on the shelf and walked over to the left. She picked up another one, a thick leather bound volume, and read, "Encyclopedia Britannica." Chihiro moved along and started reading titles. "The Hobbit…something in Russian, I think…I don't know this language, looks like Hebrew or something…The Beautiful Universe…" 

Haku asked her, "Are those all books from the Human World?"

"Yes…I think so. Some are in different languages, but I think they're all from Earth." She peered at more titles. "In fact, I think all of these books on the shelf are from Earth. Maybe they have books from your world in some other bookshelf…"

Kohaku frowned. "But how would we get to any other shelves…this one seems to expand for forever…"

"It probably ends _somewhere_. It has to. Let's see." With that Chihiro took off at a run down the right side, sprinting down the aisle. The wall on their right was plain off-white, with no pictures. Once again, Haku followed. There didn't seem to be anything dangerous in here…just that really long bookcase.

After what seemed like hours of running, the two came to a stop. "I wouldn't be surprised if it did go on forever," Chihiro panted. "This _is_ in Aiden's House, anyway." A thought came to Chihiro. "Aiden's House…" she mused, "he knows more than he lets on…maybe we can find some answers in this library."

"How are we going to get anywhere, with this bookcase in the way?" Haku asked, not expecting an answer. 

Chihiro only looked thoughtfully down both directions. She said slowly, "In the Human World, there's a movie called 'Labyrinth'. It's about this big maze…but the first wall seems to go on forever, like this one does. Except the girl in the story didn't realize that there were openings, and she didn't see one. We could have walked right by one."

She put her hands against the bookcase and moved down the line. Haku went in the other direction, following her lead, testing the bookcase. Solid, solid, solid, knocked a book over, solid, the bookcase crumbled, s---

"Chihiro!" Kohaku shouted. She ran over and they both peered down at the big pile of dust in front of him. A section of the bookcases had just turned into dust. Chihiro picked up the book Haku knocked over. The title read, The Gate. They looked at each other, smiled, and walked through the gate.

Now here was a library to be envied of. 

Giant bookcases (that somehow had not been visible past the First Row of Shelves) with ladders all the way up were everywhere, as if randomly strewn by a bored librarian. There were shelves upon shelves of books, all shapes and sizes and colors. Every here and there would be a clearing containing fat poufs in deep purple and green, with little rose shade lamps nearby---more for decoration than for light. 

As Chihiro and Haku kept looking, they noticed far away, at the other end of the library, there were levels. There was a corkscrew staircase that led up to another floor of books, lamps, and poufs. And then they saw other staircases reaching to other levels of the grand library.

"He must have every book ever published!" Chihiro breathed in awe.

"Amazing…" Haku said softly.

Chihiro started walking down one of the rows. "Well, let's see if we can find anything. Clues and such."

"Chihiro," Haku said, "maybe we shouldn't split up. The library is very big, and we could easily get lost inside."

Chihiro replied over her shoulder, "Yes, but we have a better chance of finding something important if we split up. Double the area covered." Kohaku suddenly ran up to her. Chihiro turned around and looked at him. He fingered the Rose in his pocket, but after a moment's thought decided that the time wasn't right.

Instead, Haku weaved a tiny spell with his slim fingers over Chihiro's head. For a moment it was visible, like lace, and then it disappeared. "What was that?" she asked.

"Protection. Just…be careful." He gave her a quick hug, and before Chihiro could speak he went off in the other direction. 

Chihiro stared, blushing, and called out after him, "You be careful too…"

- - -

There was a bright light…

Aiden appeared silently, and his eyes widened when he came upon the intertwined forms of Sakura and Syaoran. He also saw that one of the pendants was glowing. For a sliver of a second, Aiden felt a strange emotion come over him, though he didn't know what it was. It was almost as if…

Aiden brushed away the thought and put a sly grin on his face. "Ahem."

Sakura and Syaoran hastily broke apart, both a very bright red. The light faded before Sakura could see which one was glowing. The two pendants lay still; amethyst and ruby.

There was an awkward silence.

"We were just---"

"It's not what it---"

"Where are Chihiro and Haku? Gone to get a room?" Aiden chuckled.

Sakura said, "Well, we forgot something back at Zeniba's house. So they went to go get it…but they've been gone for quite a bit…"

Aiden frowned. He held up a small and plain bag and said, "Is this what you forgot? I came to pick it up on my way back from Gnimaerd."

"How did you know it was there?" Syaoran said.

"Ergh…so exactly how long have they been gone?" he asked, deliberately changing the subject. Sakura and Syaoran exchanged glances.

Sakura answered, "We're not sure…"

"I could locate them…it's my House, anyway." Aiden closed his eyes, like someone doing a hard math problem mentally. "Ah…the Library. Well, they should have a nice time in there." Sakura detected sarcasm.

"What do you mean? And how did they get there if they were going to Zeniba's door?"

Aiden held up his hands. "How should I know? The doors like changing around. They try and confuse me, or they just like to move about. But my Library…it's hard to get out once you get in. It's easy to get lost inside. Unless they haven't gotten past the first wall…"

"Let's go and get them, then." Sakura said, picking up her necklace. Aiden reached forward and grabbed Chihiro's. To Sakura and Syaoran's astonishment, it glowed! Even Aiden had a slightly surprised look on his face. 

He mused, "I wonder why…?"

"Let's go." Syaoran said, holding his sword.

- - -

Chihiro was climbing one of the staircases. So far, she had found out nothing related to anything Aiden had been talking about. She only hoped that Haku would be doing better than she was.

If it hadn't been for the music softly playing throughout the library, Chihiro would have been freaked out by the silence. The only sound besides the music was her footsteps (cushioned by the musty red carpeting) and her breathing.

"About time," she muttered, upon reaching the top of the staircase. She proceeded to go down a random aisle in this section of the library, but something else caught Chihiro's eye. The red carpeting branched off from where she was standing to wrap around the big bookcases. But at the very end of the room area that she had climbed to, by the left wall, the carpet there was a dusty white (that looked more like yellow). 

Chihiro walked over to that carpeting, and peered down the aisle. There were books here too. But it felt like the books here were emanating silence. She kept walking.

Seized with an impulse, Chihiro grabbed a book whose title she couldn't read beneath the layers of dust, and opened it. On opening, it crumbled with a whisper of regret. Looking behind her, Chihiro noticed that her footprints stood out in the carpet carpeted with grime.

'No one has been in this area of the library for a long time…' Chihiro thought. She walked further down the aisle. After a few minutes (she didn't bother to look at the books; she didn't even know why she was bothering to walk down the aisle) Chihiro came near to the end. There was a bookshelf ladder that seemed to go up for at least 20 feet. She hesitated, and then climbed up.

A flash of light caught her eye, and Chihiro looked to her left. Something had caught the light, and Chihiro saw that it was a mirror. It looked ancient and filthy and disgusting. She kept climbing.

By the time her muscles had started to seize up slightly, Chihiro reached the top of the bookcase. Trying not to look down, she gazed at the titles in front of her. Chihiro reached out to try to clear the dust away from one of the books, and it crumbled as well; dust wafted down below. She moved the ladder over (it was on wheels) and saw that each of the books crumbled as she touched it.

It only took a few seconds to reach the end of the shelf. Chihiro touched the last book, too, but to her surprise it did not fall apart. Immediately, her heart beating faster, Chihiro took it off the shelf and looked at it. The title was indiscernible. Or maybe…

The letters moved around and changed shape, until Chihiro was looking at familiar letters. But they were all wrong…it said 'Yrotsih fo yrotsih etelpmoc eht'. 'And that doesn't mean anything…' Chihiro thought.

A sudden idea came to her. Chihiro tucked the book underneath her arm and hurriedly climbed down the long ladder. Halfway down, Chihiro heard a muffled sound that went 'poffang'. For a moment, she was afraid that the ladder had broken, and practically ran down the ladder. But on her way down, Chihiro realized that it had sounded far away, like something had exploded on the complete opposite end of the Library. Whatever it was, it'd have to wait.

She jumped off of the ladder with a few feet to go, and ignored the jarring of her ankles. Chihiro ran to the mirror and rubbed it clean with her hand, and held up the book. She read the title. "The Complete History of History". Heart beating furiously, Chihiro turned the page. It was a table of contents.

There was another 'poffang', only it sounded a bit closer to where Chihiro was. Like it was halfway through the Library. Chihiro turned around and looked out of the aisle. It was awfully long…but to the right (she was on the left wall of the 'little' alcove) was another aisle leading straight to the right wall. The library outside seemed undisturbed.

'So I can go out that way if something blocks that exit…' a shiver ran down Chihiro's spine. Why would she be thinking of running away from something?

Feeling jumpy, Chihiro turned back to the reflection and skimmed the table of contents. One heading caught her eye: 'On the Physical Embodiment of Ananda'. Another one was 'On the Creation of Different Worlds, or When the---' (here the word was smudged) '—was Very Bored'.

Chihiro heard another sound, like someone was climbing the staircase that led to the room where she was. She froze, and with slightly shaking hands (there were footsteps coming closer to her), closed the book. She wished it were smaller, so she could fit it in her pocket. To Chihiro's surprise, it did. Pushing away any questions, Chihiro shoved it in her pocket and looked up.

She saw someone reflected in the mirror, standing at the opposite end of the bookcase-hallway. Chihiro squinted, and sighed with relief.

"Haku?"

He smiled at her, oddly.

- - -

Sakura, Syaoran, and Aiden stood before the First Wall.

"You see, I installed this just for fun. To anyone, from anywhere, there will be books from their world, all in this first row. Of course, they will wonder how to get past this wall and into My Library…but there is only one way. Chihiro and Haku must have stumbled on it by accident. Otherwise it's pretty hard to get in."

Sakura asked, "Why wouldn't you want people to get inside?"

"There are some things in here that aren't books." Aiden led them down the path to the right. Then he stopped, and took out a book. The bookcase dissolved into dust, and they stepped into the Library.

"Wow!" Sakura gasped. Syaoran raised his eyebrows. Aiden however, frowned.

"Something isn't right," he said softly. "Something has gotten out."

Sakura asked nervously, "What do you mean?" She looked around and noticed Syaoran was fingering his sword's hilt.

Before Aiden could answer, they heard footsteps. Coming towards them. Aiden stiffened and Sakura reached out for Syaoran's hand. But it was just Kohaku, walking down one of the aisles.

Sakura sighed in relief, letting go of Syaoran's hand. 

"Where's Chihiro?" Syaoran asked, looking around. Aiden said nothing, only stared oddly at Haku.

Suddenly Sakura said, "Kohaku! Are you hurt?" She pointed at his sleeve, and they saw blood on it.

He answered coolly, "No, I'm not."

Aiden was frowning by now. Sakura faltered. "But then…"

Someone yelled, "GET AWAY FROM HIM! STAY AWAY! IT'S A TRAP!"

"Chihiro?" Everyone turned around, and saw Chihiro standing by one of the bookcases. She was pale and trembling, and Sakura saw that she was bleeding from a nasty looking cut on her forehead and her shirt was torn.

"RUN!" she panted out, and ran forward. She was limping. There was a terrible shriek, and Sakura felt herself screaming as they turned around and saw some sort of shadow rushing towards them---

Aiden raised his hands and shouted something---

Bookcases fell over, books scattering and pages flying---

Chihiro thought wildly, 'The music's stopped!'

Syaoran was holding Meracus—

There was a clear dome overhead, and there was another horrible scream. A few pages of paper wafted down onto the fallen bookshelves, and silence reigned.

"Chihiro, are you ok?" Chihiro had run over to Sakura, limping, and had collapsed on to her knees during the chaos. Syaoran stood nearby, holding out Meracus and warily looking around. Aiden was nowhere to be found.

"I'm ok…" Chihiro answered.

Sakura asked, "What happened?"

Chihiro took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Her hands were shaking, and she was breathing fast.

"We found ourselves in here. Haku and I were able to get in the library…and then I thought that we might find something about the necklaces or something in here, since there are so many books. And we decided to split up. Then I was in one of the alcoves, and I heard these weird noises, like they were coming from across the library. And then there were footsteps coming close to me, and I put the book away—"

"What book?" Sakura asked.

Chihiro held it out. "It's backwards. If found it on the highest shelf, at the end of the bookcase. I thought it might have some answers. But anyway, I was looking at it with a mirror, and then I heard the footsteps, and I saw Haku in the mirror, and I thought, well that's ok. But he was smiling odd…and then he just…lunged forwards…"

Chihiro took a few more breaths. "And I ran down the other aisle, and he came crashing through one of the bookcases, and there were books everywhere…and paper. Haku turned into his dragon form, and almost got me…cut me here…and ripped my shirt. But I ran down the stairs and tripped…think I sprained my ankle…he was chasing me…but then he stopped and turned back into his human form. Maybe he knew you guys were in here. And so I walked around to try and warn you."

Sakura held her hands and wiped the cut on her forehead. Chihiro asked suddenly, "Where's Aiden?"

Syaoran said, "He left this dome above us. A protective shield." He was looking through it, for any sign of Aiden or Kohaku. But it was all still.

"So did you guys find out anything about the necklaces?" Chihiro asked.

Sakura and Syaoran cast embarrassed glances at each other, both a bright red. "Ah…well…one of them did glow…"

"When? Which one?"

"Eh…I'm not sure."

Chihiro said, "Do you have them with you?"

Sakura, glad for the distraction, took out both of the necklaces. Sakura's amethyst one was dull, but Chihiro's pendant was glowing in Sakura's hands. Chihiro gasped. "How…"

Sakura blushed again, and whispered to Chihiro what had happened. Chihiro giggled, and whispered back, "Good for you! I've been waiting for ages…"

Through the dome, Aiden's voice came suddenly. "I'm back." He had appeared, and was carrying Kohaku. "Could you let me in? I fixed the dome so that it would only come off if you told it to. Just in case something happened. I've gotten Haku."

Sakura grinned, and opened her mouth to speak. But Chihiro said, "How do we know you're not like Haku? Something took over him. How can we trust you?"

"Ask me something, then. Each of you. Something only I would know."

Sakura said, "What's your favorite color?"

"But I didn't tell you that!" 

"I know. Just checking."

Syaoran asked, "What is this sword's name?"

Aiden smiled, and answered, "Meracus. You named it." Syaoran gave Chihiro a look that said plainly, 'this has got to be him, just let him in already'. But Chihiro shook her head. She had an odd look on her face.

"I know a question that only Aiden knows the answer to," she whispered.

He said, "But only I knew the answers to those questions."

"No, Syaoran knew his answer. And we knew Sakura's answer."

Aiden said, slightly perplexed, "But if you don't know the answer, then how will you know if it's right?"

Chihiro smiled. There was a silence, and they waited for her to ask her question. Then, Chihiro spoke.

"Do you love Ananda?"

Sakura and Syaoran both stared at her, mouths agape. Aiden, however, stared at Chihiro. Then, he said softly, with a small smile, "Yeah, I guess I do."

Chihiro smiled. "Ok, let him in." the dome vanished, and Aiden walked forward. She noticed gold chains binding Haku, and frowned. Before she could say anything, Sakura spoke up.

"I forgot to mention it…your necklace glows for Aiden too!"

Chihiro looked at him, and picked up the necklace. "It should work for me then, since it works for everyone else. Maybe something triggered it to work or something." But the necklace stayed dim. She picked up the other one, but it was dark as well. Sakura reached over and touched it again, and nothing happened.

"You try it." Sakura held it out to Aiden.

He picked it up, and it glowed, and a purple-pink glow shone out of it. "I have no idea why it's lighting up like this…"

Chihiro was silent, staring hard at the necklaces, like she was trying to piece something together. "Let me." Chihiro held out her hand for Sakura's pendant. 'I wish it would glow…' she thought. 'I just hope we can figure this out before Ananda gets any worse. Oh, I hope all of the people back home are ok too, wherever they are. I…' her thoughts faded as the necklace in Chihiro's hands began to glow. "Oh!"

"Hey, you made it work!" Sakura leaned over and looked at it. Chihiro looked like she was thinking harder than ever. Syaoran stepped forward abruptly, and held out Meracus, unsheathed.

He said, "Take it. It may…well, just hold it." Chihiro, bewildered, took it, and began to think once more. She closed her eyes, and racked her brain.

"Chihiro, what is it?" Sakura asked. Aiden watched in silence.

Chihiro didn't answer. She was too busy trying to figure it out. They noticed that the necklace was growing gradually brighter and brighter…

Chihiro almost had it. She looked up, and met Sakura's slightly worried gaze. "I think I have it…" she whispered. Chihiro looked back down at the necklace, and at Aiden holding the ruby one, still glowing.

@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@

thanks to all of the reviewers! I love you guys! Please drop a review, and I will love you forever!

Today's food shall be…ho hum. I'm in the mood for chips! (and I mean French fries as in chips). I love chips…they're SO good. I also love accents, especially Australian and British ^.^

Oh yes, and I'm doing a poll (for those that read HP) : which ship is better, HG/RW or HG/HP?

Do tell ^.^

Ja, silent H


	20. The Complete History of History

Hullo! Happy belated Christmas/Kwanza/hannukah/insert holiday here!

Hope you all had a good holiday. I was on holiday…haha and was really busy. But I am still writing…consider this  a late holiday present. ^^ sorry if it's a little short, but I wanted to get something up.

kk…on with the fic!

Disclaimer: As a holiday present, the lawyers have told me that I don't need a disclaimer! But just for the record, I don't own anything. =P

*/ lalala /* = flashback

'lalala'-thinking

* * * _with italics_- Dreaming

~ ~ ~ - in Gnimaerd (either Ananda or Aiden)

"lalala"-out loud

=== - smudged word

Chapter 18: The Complete History of History 

Chihiro frowned and bit her lip. She had a feeling that the answer was right there, dancing playfully out of reach. Sakura's necklace was still glowing in her hand, and the other gripped Meracus tightly.

She let her thoughts wander, while Sakura, Aiden, and Syaoran watched her with slight anticipation. 'What makes the necklaces glow? I don't know! But…uh…just think, just think. Think of when they glowed. Think out of the ordinary…maybe…yes, maybe…but how would Haku fit it? And how would that be important anyway? And what about Sakura's necklace? Would there be others with the same principle…is Sakura's even like that…it should be, I hope…'

Chihiro jerked out of her trance-ish state and blinked a couple of times. She saw three faces looking back at her. She took a deep breath.

"All right. I think what makes the necklaces light up is if the person with it may be feeling…an emotion really strongly. Like you two," Chihiro said, gesturing towards Sakura and Syaoran, "you guys were probably feeling all happy and in love when one of you probably touched one of the necklaces by accident."

Aiden said, "You might have something there. What about the other one?"

She replied, "I'm not sure. It hasn't lit up as much. But maybe when those cards were talking to Sakura…maybe she felt…I don't know…"

"Confused?" Sakura supplied with a grin. "I sure was confused…"

Chihiro shrugged. "Anyway…it's a start. But this sort of thing sounds so familiar, all this feeling stuff. It's like I've heard it somewhere before."

"Don't strain yourself." Aiden said. "Memory is like a spider's web. If you push too hard, it'll break."

Chihiro smiled suddenly. "Ananda told me that, once." 

In the silence that followed Sakura asked, "Chihiro, what about that book you found? Do you know the title?"

Chihiro nodded. "It said, the complete history of history, or something like that." Aiden gave a little start and walked over. Syaoran kept an eye on Haku, but stepped closer nonetheless.

"Might I see that?" Aiden took the tiny tome, and said, "A little larger, please." The book obliged and grew. "Now in an understandable language; we haven't the time to find a mirror." The book glowed for a moment, and then Aiden handed it back. He said, "It shouldn't give you much more trouble. I've been looking for it for ages. Even I can get lost inside here."

Chihiro eagerly took the book and reopened it to the Table of Contents. The list looked much longer than she'd noticed, and her eyes had moved down the list for quite a bit until Chihiro realized that the words were scrolling as she read. Like some kind of freaky illusion.

"Well?" Sakura asked, sitting beside her.

Chihiro shook her head and looked back to the top of the page for anything interesting. There were quite a few eye-catching titles. Chihiro sighed (this wasn't getting anywhere) and randomly flipped the pages. "There's too much information in here. I don't know how long it'll take to find whatever kind of information we're looking for." Chihiro said, idly watching the pages flip by.

Sakura said suddenly, "Look! The pages keep going and going." Chihiro did a double take and drew her breath in. There seemed to be no end to the pages and pages of information slipping from under her fingers.

"Well it is supposedly the history of History…as in everything that has probably ever happened, along with footnotes." Syaoran said lightly. "And take into consideration that there are two worlds…not to mention Gnimaerd."

Chihiro muttered darkly, "This'll take a while." So she set the book on the floor and let it fall open to a page. Surprisingly, it managed to open at the beginning of a chapter entitled "Using the Complete History of History".

So Chihiro took a deep breath and read:

**Using the Complete History of History:**

As you might have guessed, The Complete History of History is about…the complete history of history! And that's a lot of information.

But let's get on with the obvious.

So you don't know where to start? Ah well, neither did I when I started to write this book. HAHA, you might be thinking, how could you have written this entire encyclopedia to conquer all encyclopedias? But since I am the === I have had lots of time during my boredom to write. I get very bored. Oh dear, I'm getting off topic.

Back to using this very useful book. The table of contents isn't really of much service, but I couldn't help putting it in to make it seem like a real encyclopedia. It only lists everything that is in here; anything that has to do with anything. For instance (if you wish to read) there is a 'On The History of The Complete History of History' section. Yes, the book is quite vain, and persuaded me to include its own biography.

And you are probably thinking right now, is this silly book going to be like this the whole time? So light and not-serious? Well, you can be relieved to know that the book writes itself, I only gave it the ability to do so (and I wrote this nifty little guide).

But none of this is helping you so far, is it? All right then.

Concentrate very hard on what you want to find out, anything that could possibly be in this book (which is basically everything, so it is possible to find anything about anything, and even anything about nothing in here).

Chihiro stopped reading. There was a confused silence. She said, "Well then." Chihiro held up the book and showed that the rest of the page was blank.

Aiden looked rather amused. He was grinning to himself, as if he had recognized something, like people recognize faces.

Sakura said, "Whoever wrote that was right. They didn't help much. Try another page."

Chihiro obliged and turned a couple of pages. To her astonishment, they were all blank! "What? It was all full just a moment ago!" She flipped the pages and spotted some print on another page. Chihiro read it and made a frustrated noise.

"What is it?" Aiden asked.

Chihiro replied:

You're not concentrating, are you? I **told** you to concentrate.

Aiden said, "Well we better get on with what it's saying, don't you think? Concentrate on something, Chihiro."

She raised her eyebrows and bent over the book, concentrating. After a minute or two, she turned the page. Another single line of print was on it that said:

Please turn the page. ----

Rolling her eyes, Chihiro turned the page and found the heading, 'On Ananda'. She said under her breath, "At least we're getting somewhere now." She turned to Aiden. "But first, is Haku okay? What happened to him?"

He replied, "I'll explain later. But while I'm here, no harm will come to any of you. Haku needs a bit of rest. We can fill him in on what's happened later…this is probably very important." He was referring to the book. 

Syaoran by now had come and sat down by Chihiro and Sakura, Aiden standing nearby. Aiden said, "I think we could use some chairs, don't you think?" He waved his hand and the found them in some of the little poufy chairs, with rosy lamps nearby and all of the wreckage apparently cleaned up. Haku was dozing nearby on a therapist-esque sofa bed thing (I couldn't think of the word).

Sakura made a gesture asking Chihiro if she could read now, and Chihiro (who's voice was sore) nodded thankfully. Sakura began to read:

**On Ananda.**

Ananda: that thing without which the universe would fall apart and collapse. It is a only a word, or rather, a name, taken from one of the languages from the Human World to stand for what Ananda really is. In short, 'Ananda' is more like a name coined by the === for another thing that is too great to be named, like === itself.

Without the presence of Ananda, everything would end. Less complex beings might disappear, the Laws might disintegrate, or the Worlds created by === could go completely out of whack. While what would happen if Ananda were removed from existence is known, **how** it would happen is unknown, because it has never happened.

However, the possibility of Ananda disappearing was practically impossible before any of the Worlds were created, because it was completely untouchable. There is no real explanation for what Ananda was until He interfered. It only existed.

Now, everything has faults, except for a few things that aren't exactly living. Ananda, for instance, was never really alive, until the === decided that Ananda might be better suited if it was a physical embodiment. Since the === is the ===, it had the power to do so. So Ananda was given the form of one of the ideas === had in store for a world it'd just created. The form of a human (another coined word) was pleasing, so a few eons after the creation of Ananda's physical embodiment, another was formed. (For information on the first of the Anima, see 'On Aiden'). 

At this, they all looked up at Aiden, who looked suddenly uncomfortable. He said with a half-grin, "Sakura…why'd you stop? It was getting interesting."

Ignoring him, Syaoran said, "What are the Anima?"

Aiden said, "I don't know."

"You must know, Aiden. The book specifically referred to you!" Chihiro said.

"But," he said, holding his hands up in defense, "I really don't know what it's talking about. I mean, He never really gave us a name, you know? Or maybe they're all just the same thing--"

Sakura asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Well, it's a funny story." Aiden said. They only crossed their arms at him (or at least Chihiro and Sakura did, Syaoran only sat expectantly for an answer).

Finally, he said, "Well…I think it's safe to assume that you know I'm not really human. Anima could probably be another coined word---"

"Wait a minute." Chihiro said. "What is it with all these words? And this book. Sakura, didn't you notice that there are a lot of words that are blurred? And if you look closely…I think that they're blurred on purpose."

Sakura nodded. "The coined words…and the how two section. Who wrote this book, Aiden? Is it that person who made everything…like…who made Ananda a person like the book says?"

"I thought you wanted to know who the Anima were."

Syaoran said, "I think we should ask the book. It could give some straighter answers." He stared pointedly at Aiden.

Sakura said, "Aiden, if we really are to help Ananda, don't you think it would be more helpful to answer our questions? Then we'd have more of an idea of everything that's going on."

Aiden sighed. "All right. There are no words that could name…him. There really is no word that is blurred in the book, the blots are just there so that reading is easier. If there was nothing where the blots were, then it wouldn't make as much sense.

"So anyway, I'll start with Him. He doesn't really have a gender, but it's easier to just say him…I think. So He'll be referred to as Him. He created everything, I guess. He was bored. Ananda was there, right along with Him, but the book is right. Everyone makes mistakes, and He made one in making Ananda have a form and mind and such. It left her vulnerable to dying, as we can see.

"After He made the Ananda, He made me. Just to keep her company, at first, but later on he made more to keep watch over His Worlds, since there were so many. (But not all are supportive of life.) He really liked the design He called 'human', and used it on most of the beings he created. Others had other forms he thought up. I guess we could be grouped into a category and named. Although I would have preferred to be called something like, 'angel' maybe. We have the same qualities, you could say."

"Hold the phone!" Sakura burst out. "You mean you guys are like…angels?!?!"

"Um…" he grinned sheepishly. "It was only a metaphor."

Chihiro said, "Could we get on with this?"

Aiden smiled again, and started to say something. But then, three things happened.

A card burst out of nowhere and grabbed Sakura. Syaoran lunged and managed to grab her ankle as it towed them away.

Aiden started, and shouted out loud, "Ananda!!!" and disappeared.

And Haku woke up. 

@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@

so at the end of this chap, S+S are alone…C+H are alone (and Haku woke up!) and Aiden is … well you can guess.

thankees to the reviewers! I shall consider them an xmas present. Oh! Btw…I turned fifteen!!! Yay! So wish me a happy bday ^^ and gimme a review.

Ja ne, and follow the arrow. Today's food is…candy canes! And if you're not Christian…have some gelt (ahah my friend and I have this thing…I thought it was yelt, not gelt…lol) and roasted chestnuts. Have a feast.

silent H

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